India - ICAR conducting research to develop location specific varieties

Date:08-05-2021

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is conducting a research programme to develop location specific varieties and technologies for enhancing the production and productivity of farm holdings, the Lok Sabha was told on Tuesday.

"The government has taken several measures to make small holdings more viable. These include adoption of modern technologies and practices like multiple cropping, intercropping and integrated farming systems," Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

Support is also provided to farmers (including small and marginal farmers) through initiatives and programmes of the Government like interest subvention scheme, Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Neem coated Urea, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) etc., the Minister said.

As per the Demand Supply projection made by the NITI Aayog for 2033, the balance sheet is projected to be quite affirmative for the foodgrains as a whole and further increase in production of foodgrains is suggested to be achieved mainly through increase in productivity of crops. For this, the Government of India is implementing several Crop Development Schemes/Programmes such as National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), Soil Health Card etc.

To achieve further growth in agricultural area under irrigation and to meet the objectives of National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the government is implementing Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) since 2015-16 with the motto of "Har Khet Ko Pani" for providing end to end solutions in irrigation supply chain viz, water resources, distribution network and farm level applications.

The 'More Crop Per Drop' micro irrigation component which is a part of the PMKSY, helps create micro level water storage or water conservation/management activities to supplement source creation for Micro Irrigation. Under this component, about 57.31 lakh ha area has been brought under the coverage of micro irrigation during the period 2015-16 to 2020-21, the Minister added.