PM releases 109 crop varieties to boost Indian agriculture
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released 109 new crop varieties aimed at benefiting the farming community across India.
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released 109 new crop varieties aimed at benefiting the farming community across India.
These 109 varieties span 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. Nine of these are rice varieties that are climate-resilient, biofortified, and high-yielding with low fertilizer requirements.
Hyderabad-based ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (ICAR-IIRR) contributed three rice varieties: DRR Dhan 73, DRR Dhan 74, and DRR Dhan 78. These varieties are high-yielding, require less water, and can thrive with 40 percent reduced phosphorus fertilizer application, making them ideal for climate-resilient agriculture, a ICAR-IIRR statement said on Monday.
Other rice varieties released by the Prime Minister include:
Swarna Purvi Dhan 5: Suitable for direct-seeded aerobic conditions and biofortified with 25.5 ppm Zinc, KKL 4: Submergence tolerant, CR Dhan 416 and CSR 101: Salinity tolerant, CR Dhan 810: Suitable for rainfed shallow lowlands and CR Dhan 108: Suitable for early direct-seeded rainfed conditions.
These varieties have been notified and released for different states and ecological zones through the All India Coordinated Research Project on Rice (AICRPR), coordinated by ICAR-IIRR.
Prime Minister urged Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) to proactively inform farmers about the benefits of these new varieties to help double their incomes.
Dr R M Sundaram, Director of ICAR-IIRR, mentioned that efforts are underway to disseminate these varieties through the KVKs and the AICRPR network in the upcoming season.
These varieties will also be distributed to marginalized sections of society through flagship programs like the Tribal Sub-Plan and Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, particularly in areas where farmers are affected by climate change, the statement added.
