New Delhi. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday called upon Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) scientists to develop high-yielding varieties of pulses and oilseeds to boost domestic production and reduce dependence on imports.
Addressing the 96th ICAR Foundation and Technology Day, Chauhan mentioned the low productivity of soybean in India compared to other countries. He also mentioned the gradual decline in the area under cultivation of soybean crop and sunflower seeds.
Chauhan said, “We are growing rice and wheat in sufficient quantity, but are importing pulses and edible oils. How will we solve this issue? … There is a need to develop new varieties of short duration and high yielding.” He said that farmers are not willing to grow crops with low productivity and low profit. The minister urged ICAR to promote crop diversification under the campaign and educate farmers about the cultivation of pulses and oilseeds. He said that diversification in agriculture can quadruple the income of farmers, achieving this is “not an impossible task.” Acknowledging the gap in technology transfer from laboratory to land, Chauhan suggested collaboration between ICAR research institutes and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).
He also said that only 20 per cent of ICAR’s budget is spent on research, while the rest is spent on salaries of staff. He stressed the need to increase research expenditure. At the event, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh urged ICAR to accelerate research in related fields.
He called for solutions to tackle foot and mouth disease in animals and development of affordable IVF vaccines for dairy farmers. 40 innovative technologies to be developed in the year 2023 were showcased at the event. Several MoUs were signed with the private sector for commercialization. Ministers of State for Agriculture Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Chaudhary, Ministers of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy George Kurien and SP Singh Baghel and Director General of ICAR Himanshu Pathak were present on the occasion.