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Informist, Tuesday, Jul 30, 2024

 

By J. Navya Sruthi

 

MUMBAI – The Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research is likely to align its research and development activities with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's agricultural initiatives projected in the Union Budget 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), Ratan Tiwari, director of the institute, told Informist.  

 

The institute, which comes under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, will aim to increase productivity and develop climate-resilient crop varieties through its vast network of research institutes across the country, Tiwari said.  

 

Apart from climate-resilient varieties, the agency would also develop and deploy bio-fortified varieties of seeds this year for the country to meet its food and nutrition security, he said. It will also conduct more than 1,000 cluster demonstrations of climate-resilient and bio-fortified varieties of seeds in various states. 

 

Cluster demonstration means the latest notified or released varieties of seeds during the last 10 years will be demonstrated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research on the farms of selected farmers. This provides a direct interface between a researcher and farmers as the scientists are directly involved in planning, execution and monitoring of the demonstration for the technologies developed, and get direct feedback from farmers.

 

The institute will also provide support to small farmers by providing improved seeds of recent varieties, Tiwari said, adding that promotion of digital agriculture and sustainable farming practices are also the institute's goals for this year.  

 

In the Union Budget presented last week, Sitharaman said the Centre would undertake a comprehensive review of the agricultural research setup to focus on increasing productivity and developing climate-resilient varieties. The government will introduce 109 new high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops for cultivation by farmers, the minister said. 

 

Commenting on the natural farming initiative in the Budget, Tiwari said the institute had already started research on this. "Through its extension division, the institute provides seed of improved varieties to more than 20,000 farmers annually," he said. 

 

The finance minister said 10 mln farmers across the country would be initiated into natural farming in the next two years, supported by certification and branding. 

 

The Budget has provided 99.4 bln rupees for agricultural research and education, of which 71.02 bln rupees is allocated to autonomous bodies such as central agricultural universities, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research headquarters, and the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The Budget has provided for a total outlay of 1.52 trln rupees on agriculture and allied sectors in the current financial year.  End

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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