Tomar was addressing 5th Foundation and Technology Day of Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) celebrated its 95th Foundation Day at National Agriculture Science Complex, Pusa, New Delhi.
Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and President of ICAR Society was the Chief Guest of the program. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry – Dairying and Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare also graced the occasion.
Tomar appreciated the historic journey of ICAR and its overall achievements during the last 94 years. He exhorted that India is a surplus nation in terms of food grains and providing food to 80 crore people in the country. Agricultural products from India are being preferred globally and millets are getting significance in the International Year of Millets, he added. This is happening because of the sincere efforts of farmers and scientists. The Minister said exports earned from agricultural and horticultural products have crossed $50 billion dollar. He informed that Government is emphasising organic farming and natural farming and a separate mission has been initiated with a budget provision of Rs.1500 crore for the promotion of eco-friendly agriculture. Further, he lauded the scientists and farmers for their great service to the nation in making the country not only self-sufficient in many commodities but also becoming an exporter of food items.
Rupala acclaimed ICAR for several remarkable achievements which have revolutionised the dairy and fisheries sector. He further mentioned that the time has come to earn carbon credits from agriculture which can be explored for additional income. He also inaugurated an exhibition showcasing innovative technologies developed by 113 ICAR research institutes.
Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) and Director General (ICAR) said that unprecedented growth in the agriculture sector has been recorded. He emphasised that India is not only self-sufficient in the production of food grains but is also exporting agriculture and agricultural products in large quantities. In his presentation, he highlighted the achievement made by ICAR such as the development of 346 varieties of food grains, 99 varieties of horticulture crops, mapping of efficient cropping system zones, fertigation schedule for 24 crops, 28 new equipment and machinery, coronavirus and lumpy disease vaccines, new diagnostics, the breeding protocol of new fish breeds, conduction of 47088 on-farm trials and 2.99 lakh front line demonstration on new technologies. He also mentioned that 58 patents and 711 technology licencing agreements were signed by agriculture scientists from different industries.
