The minister inaugurated the integrated farming unit of “Moringa and Backyard Poultry” at ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad, Telangana
Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj has inaugurated the integrated farming unit of “Moringa and Backyard Poultry” at ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad, Telangana on July 1, 2022. “The Poultry Farming is one of the most important ways to alleviate malnutrition in the rural areas providing an additional income to the poor families and nutritional security to the poor and landless farmers”, said Giriraj Singh.
The Union Minister appreciated the performance of the improved Chicken Germ Plasm developed at the Directorate. He stated that the Directorate is striving hard to develop the suitable technologies for both the commercial & backyard poultry and also in the new frontier areas of nutrition, health and biotechnology.
Singh accentuated the model will help in reducing the feed cost and competitiveness for human food like Maize and Soybean. He also urged to encourage the youths to take-up the technology through start-ups. The need for exploring the possibility of branding and marketing of Moringa Fed Chicken Egg and Meat was stressed by the Union Minister.
The Guest of Honour, Dr G Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, National Institute for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad accentuated on the collaboration between the two organisations for the farmers’ welfare and benefits.
The Kalpa Agri-Business Incubator, ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala in collaboration with Kerala start-up has jointly organised the RIBC 2.0
The Kalpa Agri-Business Incubator, ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod, Kerala in collaboration with Kerala start-up has jointly organised the “Rural India Business Conclave – 2022 (RIBC 2.0)” from June, 9to 13, 2022. The Chief Guest, Rajmohan Unnithan, Member of Parliament, Kasaragod, Kerala inaugurated the Conclave.
Dr Anitha Karun, Director, ICAR-CPCRI, Kasargod briefed about the main objective of the Conclave. Dr Karun stated that the programme could network the Knowledge Partners, Entrepreneurs and Financial Institutions for the inclusive Agri-business development.
The Conclave witnessed a wide array of activities like Rural-Agri Tech Hackathon, Funder’s Talks, Expert’s Talks, Panel Discussions, Startup Pitch, Interdisciplinary Workspace for Innovative Research, Investors Meet and Dream Big Kalpa, etc.
The Institute also signed two Memorandums of Understanding during the occasion.
The Minister highlighted the importance of soil survey-based land use planning and its outreach to the farmers of the country
Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has laid the foundation stone of the New Building of ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre, Delhi on June 6, 2022.
Delivering his address, the Minister highlighted the importance of soil survey-based land use planning and its outreach to the farmers of the country. Choudhary emphasised that 25 per cent of research should be allocated under the natural farming. He urged the Scientists to focus on realising the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s vision to popularise the natural farming across the country.
Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari, Deputy Director General (Natural Resource Management), ICAR highlighted the importance of the soil survey and land use planning for the developmental activities. He stressed that the data generated is of immense importance for the policy makers, planners, administrators and different stakeholders for the implementation of the Government of India’s various schemes.
Discussions were held on the role of poultry industry and its contributions to the national economy.
The ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad recently organised a national seminar on ‘Revisiting Poultry Production and Marketing Systems for Addressing the Fast Changing Consumer Preferences’ in Hyderabad. The seminar was organised in collaboration with the Indian Poultry Science Association, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chapter.
The Chief Guest, Dr G Ranjith Reddy, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Chevella Constituency, Telangana urged that the deliberations should focus on highlighting the health benefits of egg and chicken meat. He urged the industry to stay strong in the marketing, publicising and advertising their products. Dr Reddy also encouraged the young veterinary graduates for venturing into the poultry sector that has a lot of opportunities.
The Guest of Honor, Dr V Ravinder Reddy, Vice Chancellor, PV Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University, Hyderabad emphasised on the need for supporting the poultry farmers by providing the feed ingredients on time at a reasonable cost.
Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries, Dr RN Chatterjee, Director, ICAR-DPR, Hyderabad underlined the role of poultry industry and its contributions to the national economy.
The scientists from ICAR-DPR, Hyderabad along with officials, staff and students from the veterinary university, poultry entrepreneurs and industry representatives from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; officials from the Animal Husbandry Department and Members of IPSA-Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh Chapter participated in the seminar.
According to the experts, the effort will undoubtedly improve the economic benefits, contribute to innovation and growth and encourage sustainability
The ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Coastal Corporation, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh for the production of indigenous shrimp larval feed in Chennai.
In his address, Dr Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science), ICAR highlighted the necessity for promoting the Indigenous Larval Feed.
Dr KP Jithendran, Director, ICAR-CIBA, Chennai stated that the effort will undoubtedly improve the economic benefits, contribute to innovation and growth and encourage sustainability and competitiveness in the aquafeed sector in the longer run.
VR Sharma, Vice-President, Coastal Corporation shared the encouraging trial results obtained with the ICAR-CIBA Shrimp LarviPlus.
Dr K Ambasankar, Principal Scientist and Team Leader for the Feed Technology, ICAR-CIBA, Chennai outlined the initiative’s genesis in line with the Make in India Programme.
The building will house a soil testing lab and bio-pesticides production lab
Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Extension), ICAR virtually inaugurated the New Administrative Building, Soil Testing Lab and Bio-pesticides Production Lab of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Badnapur, Jalna, Maharashtra.
In his inaugural address, Dr Singh highlighted the KVK’s efforts for doubling the farmers’ income in the country. He stated that the introduction of the additional enterprises like poultry farming, goat rearing, horticulture nursery and mushroom cultivation, etc., will help in doubling the farmers’ income. The DDG also stressed on linking the farmers with markets through the Farmers’ Producers’ Organizations (FPOs), crop residue management, water resource utilisation, conservation agriculture, reducing the cost of cultivation, processing and value-addition. The role of KVKs for the outreaching of the technologies developed to the farmers was underlined by Dr Singh.
Dr AS Dhawan, Vice-Chancellor, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, Maharashtra highlighted the challenges and opportunities in front of farmers and the role of KVK in resolving them more strategically. He also urged the KVK to focus on developing good demonstration farm which will be useful to the farmers of the area.
Krishi Ratna, Vijay Anna Borade, Trustee, MSSM, Jalna, Maharashtra suggested the KVK’s Scientists to be ready to address the challenges faced by the agricultural community at the grassroot level. He also underlined that the Badnapur Campus is recognised for its outstanding contributions in the pulses’ researches and developing the climate-resilient varieties of pulses.
Dr Lakhan Singh, Director, ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra applauded the KVK’s work, especially, for the initiative of the Farmers’-Scientists’-Forum Meeting scheduled on 20th of every Month.
Dr DB Deosarkar, Director of Extension Education, VNMKV, Parbhani, outlined the initiative taken by the KVK during the short span of time. Earlier, Dr SD Somwanshi, Head, KVK, Jalna – II, Maharashtra delivered the welcome address.
More than 200 farmers, extension functionaries, scientists and other officials from the various sections participated in the event.
According to the minster, new technology is aimed to reach more and more farmers, which will facilitate the farmers, reduce the cost and increase the income
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated and addressed the conference on ‘Promoting Kisan Drones: Issues, Challenges and the Way Ahead’ organized as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Tomar said that the government is promoting the use of drones for the convenience of the farmers, reducing the cost and increasing the income. For promoting the use of Kisan Drones, the government is providing 50 per cent or a maximum Rs 5 lakh subsidy to SC-ST, small and marginal, women and farmers of northeastern states to buy drones. For other farmers, financial assistance will be given up to 40 per cent or a maximum Rs 4 lakh.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary said that this new technology is aimed to reach more and more farmers, which will facilitate them, reduce the cost and increase their income. Under this vision of the Prime Minister, work is being done expeditiously under the guidance of Union Agriculture Minister Tomar. During the attack of locust, the government had also promptly used drones and helicopters for rescue.
Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said that the conditions are favourable to take drones to the farmers and the government is also committed in this regard. ICAR Director-General Dr Trilochan Mohapatra said that ICAR is contributing through research and training. With this, more and more farmers will be ready to use drones. Joint Secretary Shomita Biswas delivered the welcome address. Additional Secretary Prashant Kumar Swain proposed a vote of thanks. Farmers and entrepreneurs of the drone, fertiliser and pesticide sector, startup operators, and representatives of IFFCO and KVK were present at the conference.
The main objective of the MoU signed with the university is to evaluate the nano-sensors for sustainable intensification of the different aquaculture systems
The ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai signed the two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Hindustan University of Technology and Science, Chennai and AA Biotech, Chennai for collaborative research.
Dr KP Jithendran, Director, ICAR-CIBA, Chennai emphasised the significance of the collaborative research and validation of the technology between a research institution, academic university and aquaculture entrepreneur that would facilitate knowledge sharing, technology validation and popularisation of the broad spectrum of the techniques available in the institute.
Dr K Nandakumar, Director of Research (who signed the MoU) on the behalf of Hindustan University, Chennai stated that through the partnership, the specialized capacities of both the Institutions would aid in the application of the nano-Sensors for sustainable intensification of the different aquaculture systems.
Udaya Ram Jothy, CEO, AA Biotech said that the water testing protocol would address the farm level issues like a human error in testing water quality parameters, rapid detection, geo-location and option for rectifying errors in tests with a reasonable cost.
The main objective of the MoU signed with the university is to evaluate the nano-sensors for sustainable intensification of the different aquaculture systems like RAS and Biofloc-based systems and synthesis of the nanoparticles for the targeted therapy and protein/peptide characterisation. The MoU with the AA Biotechis aimed at the calibration and validation of the water quality testing protocol in aquaculture.
The feed mill will look into different feed ingredients for the Fish Feed preparation
Jatindra Nath Swain, Secretary (Fisheries), Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India inaugurated the Mobile Feed Mill (CIFE Model) developed by the FNBP Division, ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Swain stressed the capacity of Mobile Feed Mill and the use of the different feed ingredients for the Fish Feed preparation.
Dr Joykrushna Jena, Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science), ICAR; Dr C Suvarna, CEO, National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad; Dr Ravishankar CN, Director, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai; Dr NP Sahu, Joint Director, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai; Dr Parimal Sardar, HoD, FNBP Division, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai and Principal Scientists, FNBP Division, ICAR-CIFE participated in the event.
Dr Sikendra Kumar, Scientist, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai underlined the features of the Mobile Feed Mill having capacity of making 40 kgs Pelleted Feed per Hour. He stated that the Mill developed under the Tribal Sub Plan Scheme will cater to the need of the marginal farmers for making feed using the available ingredients with them at the pond site itself of the tribal farmers. This will enhance the aquaculture productivity of the farmers.
Discussions were held on the great potential of jute in raising the economy of the country
The ICAR-Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore, Kolkata recently organised a two-day programme for mega campaign on natural and organic farming in jute-based cropping system among the farmers of major jute growing districts of West Bengal.
The Chief Guest, Dhrubajyoti De, Joint Commissioner (HQ), Barrackpore, Kolkata underlined the great potential of jute in raising the economy of the country. De stressed on considering the soil and water conservation while adopting the modern methods of farming. The role of conservation of nature, soil and water in making the agriculture profitable and sustainable was also highlighted.
Delivering the inaugural address, Dr Gouranga Kar, Director, ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore accentuated on taking the profitable farming to solve the challenges of unemployment and women empowerment into account while implementing natural and organic farming in the farmers’ fields.
The programme was aimed at promoting the knowledge of natural and organic farming in the production of the good quality organic jute fibre suitable for diversified use and export.
The workshop registered participation by 100 farmers, farm women and scientists of the ICAR-CRIJAF, Barrackpore.
Discussions were held on the implementation of the New Education Policy – 2022 in the agricultural education arena
“Our concerted efforts should be to make the self-dependent agricultural sector along with Aatma Nirbhar Bharat. This will help to strengthen the country’s economy,” said Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. Tomar was addressing the inaugural session of the ‘Annual Conference of Vice-Chancellors of State Agricultural Universities & Directors of ICAR Institutes – 2022’ organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi at the National Agricultural Science Centre Complex, New Delhi.
He also underlined the implementation of the New Education Policy – 2022 in the agricultural education arena.
Tomar stressed providing the farmers with quality education to help them withstand the recent competitive world. The need for linking and attracting the youths to the agricultural sector was also emphasised in the Union Minister’s address. He asserted the Central Government’s aim and vision to reduce the farmers’ expenditure and provide them with prompt results. The Union Minister advised the council to have quality interactions with the retired/former staff members of the council that will benefit the young task force in their research. The importance of organic products in agricultural exports was underlined by him.
Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying emphasised attracting and linking the youths with the agricultural sector. The Union Minister applauded the ICAR’s pivotal role in enhancing the agricultural and allied sciences production of the country.
Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare stressed the need for promoting precision farming to a large extent. He urged the Council for enhancing the research in the arena of horticultural sciences. ‘Utilising the new Education Policy – 2020, the agricultural students can become a role model for the others,” said Choudhary. The minister accentuated providing vocational education to the farmers’ children on a priority basis.
Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare also marked her presence as the Guest of Honor during the occasion.
Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) asserted the Council’s commitment to providing quality agricultural and allied sciences services to the nation. The DG stated that the Council has enabled the unique management of Universities to decide the pathways for a brighter future. The effective implementation of the New Education Policy – 2020 by the ICAR was underlined by Dr Mohapatra. The need for developing such digital platforms that can enable the farmers to get in touch with the ICAR Institutes effectively was highlighted in the Director General’s address.
Proposing the vote of thanks, Dr RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR highlighted the various achievements made by the Agricultural Education Division of the Council. The dignitaries also released the various ICAR Publications and Products on the occasion.
The Vice-Chancellors of State Agricultural Universities; Deputy Directors General of ICAR; Senior Officials of ICAR and NAHEP along with the Heads of Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Agricultural Scientists participated in the conference.
The MoU is aimed at promoting Inter-Institutional Collaborative Research and academic engagements in the areas of common causes
The ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil & Water Conservation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
The MoU is aimed at promoting Inter-Institutional Collaborative Research and academic engagements in the areas of common causes. Dr M Madhu, Director, ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun and Prof (Dr) Sangeeta Shukla, Vice-Chancellor, CCSU, Meerut signed the MoU on the behalf of their respective organisations.
Dr Madhu outlined the main objective of the MoU to stimulate and facilitate collaboration and promote the mutually interested common programmes that help advance the interests of scientific studies and societal development. He stressed that the national and international level collaborative programmes and engagements for enhanced outreach and awareness of technological outcomes and success stories would be aimed through the MoU.
Dr Sangeeta Shukla urged for active collaborations in the diverse fields of science and technologies, especially, between the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Agriculture of the CCSU, Meerut and ICAR-IISWC, Dehradun.
Smallholder farmers in India can be a significant contributor in our sustainability journey. Technology and innovation have always been important for sustainable farming, from the high yielding varieties of green revolution to more recent adoption of Bt cotton. With these and other technologies like agronomic practices, combined with synthetic inputs, we saw a steady increase in crop productivity over the last decades. In recent years, this increase in crop productivity has plateaued and some of these practices have also left a large environmental footprint. Coupled with the water crisis and the climate crisis we find ourselves in, our smallholder farmers will be disproportionately affected by adverse climate events with respect to productivity and their livelihood at large. By Usha Barwale Zehr, Vikas Chandak and Umang Agrawal, Grow Indigo
Sustainable Agriculture is actually a cost effective and scalable solution to some of these challenges and additionally can offer a new source of income, and more resilience to adverse climate events.
At Grow Indigo (a partnership between Mahyco and Indigo Ag), we are focused on bringing technologies that are sustainable in these smallholder agri systems. The policies of Government of India further supports some of these initiatives like the inclusion of bio-stimulants with synthetic fertilisers or other chemicals to ensure low chemical residue harvest. Recent advances in the microbial input space are providing a promising alternative to the synthetic solutions which have been historically available. Some examples include,use of biofertiliser that are specially formulated to provide maximum benefit for a given crop (Prerak soya, cotton, pulses, wheat and other seed treatments), Soil application formulations like Oorjit Granule and Growrrhizae, biopesticides like Colossal and Bhujbal, foliar nitrogen fixers, plant growth promoting microbes and endophytes which provide enhanced Nutrient Use Efficiency, Water Use Efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance to various crops. Our partner, Indigo Ag has focused on endophytes, with a library of more than 40,000 endophytes and seeds treated with this class of treatments, providing stress tolerance be it drought, water use and other stresses. The smallholder farmers have become more and more aware about the benefits of the consortia treatments that Grow Indigo offers to address various challenges faced by them. With increasing use of these innovative inputs, the impact on soils, water quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission will be improved leading to an overall positive impact on agriculture while not impacting the productivity of the crop negatively.
Climate change has posed a significant threat to agri-food systems, especially in highly vulnerable smallholder farming regions like India. While agriculture contributes about 16 per cent of gross GHG emissions in India, it is also a substantial sink for mitigating climate change through regenerative farming practices. Practices like direct dry seeding of rice, reduced tillage, nutrient management and more have the potential to reduce the GHG emissions in addition to improving soil organic carbon, thus making agriculture the most efficient and scalable solution in addressing climate change. In smallholder farming systems, the beneficial effects of coupling these practices with voluntary carbon markets also provides an opportunity for farmer income enhancement.
Much work has been done on conservation agricultural practices in different agro ecosystems. However, the regenerative agricultural practices today are implemented only by a small percentage of farmers. These practices include, minimal tillage, cover cropping, crop diversification, use of biofertilisers, and perennial cropping, among others, which increase soil’s carbon content, water permeability, and water retention, which also increase a crop’s ability to withstand drought, flooding and temperature stresses. As per expert estimates, regenerative farming practices, combined with increased penetration of new technologies, have the potential to return the carbon levels in agricultural soils from an average of ~0.5 per cent back to ~1.5 per cent.
To catalyse the adoption of regenerative agriculture, Grow Indigo has launched a project in Punjab and Haryana which enrolls farmers in a carbon farming programme, ultimately allowing them to participate in a voluntary carbon marketplace. The monetary incentive from this programme will motivate the farmers to implement regenerative farming practices. Use of digital agronomy tools and satellite imagery analysis to measure and verify soil carbon sequestration and on-farm GHG emission levels will be essential for scaling such projects.
The objective is to pay farmers for increasing the carbon content of their soil and reducing overall GHG emissions. We are working with our partners to identify and implement regenerative practice changes, and measure the impact of those practices in terms of tonnes of carbon sequestered or GHG emission reductions. Once the impact has been verified, farmers are paid based on the amount of Carbon sequestration/GHG reduction after the carbon credits are issued and traded. Carbon credit, which is one tonne CO2 equivalent of GHG emission reduced or carbon stored in the soil, can be thought of as a data product, where the veracity, transparency, and traceability of the data has a direct implication on the quality of the carbon credit. Quality of the carbon credit is critical to get the right price for the carbon credit generated, and monitoring and verification at scale is important to make the system work in smallholder systems. Once the farmers register in the programme and continue to implement the regenerative agri practices, they will be eligible to receive payment for carbon credits generated for 20 years, conditional upon following these climate-smart practices in future.
Grow Indigo has already registered with Verra (a global leader in Carbon credit verification) and has initiated a project to start the carbon credit generation activities. With the project, Grow Indigo is enrolling farmers in the programme in partnership with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to promote practices which enhance sustainability and regenerative agriculture.
This programme creates an additional income avenue for the farmers, and contributes positively in our efforts for sustainability in the long run.
Agriculture digitisation is also paving the way for knowledge dissemination and sharing. Farmer advisories which are on mobile platforms are changing how farmers access information and such information is becoming available almost in real time. These digital technologies are also strengthening data which is being deployed to better design and implement timely and actionable advisories related to agronomy and agriculture marketing.
These are just a handful of examples of how technologies will shape the future of agriculture in the near term and get us closer to our sustainability goals. What we do today determines what the future will look like, and agriculture will be a positive contributor if we strengthen the above sustainability practices.
The key objective of the unit is to develop a national One Health roadmap based on the learnings of the pilot project implementation
The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), Government of India has launched a pilot project in the state of Uttarakhand to implement the One Health Framework by One Health Support Unit. The key objective of the unit is to develop a national One Health roadmap based on the learnings of the pilot project implementation.
The inter-ministerial One Health committee under the chairmanship of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India has been established to lead the implementation of the One Health Support Unit. A Project Steering Committee (PSC) is constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary (AHD), GoI involving representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, ICAR, civil societies, international development organisations and field practitioners.
Based on the recommendations of PSC, state and district level one health committees need to be constituted by involving competent authorities from health, animal husbandry and environment ministries. Some of the key activities to be undertaken as part of the pilot project include institutionalising the mechanism for the data collection on disease outbreaks, prevalence, management, and development of targeted surveillance plan, integrating the network of laboratories, developing and implementing communication strategy across sectors and integration of the data with the digital architecture of the National Digital Livestock Mission.
The pilot project in Uttarakhand was launched by Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India in the presence of Dr Praveen Malik, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, Government of India, Alkesh Wadhwani, Director, Poverty Alleviation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation India, Dr R Meenakshi Sundaram, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of Uttarakhand, Shri Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Secretary, Department of Medical, Health and Family Welfare Government of Uttarakhand, Ranjan Kumar Mishra, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife Uttarakhand Forest Department, Government of Uttarakhand and Dr Prem Kumar, Director, Department of Animal Husbandry Government of Uttarakhand among other key stakeholders.
