28-Aug-2022: Four new facilities at Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur inaugurated by Union Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today inaugurated four new facilities at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), which has been rendering excellent services for more than 60 years under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Kailash Chaudhary were special guests on this occasion.
The Chief Guest of the programme, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, in his address, said that CAZRI, an institute of excellence of the ICAR, has been doing innovations and research in agriculture for the farmers of the arid region for more than 60 years, which is an example for our desert areas as well as for the whole world. Due to the research work done by CAZRI such as dune stabilization, sprinkler and drip irrigation system and new varieties of crops, grasses and fruits, farmers' income is increasing. Work like solar energy, reduction in the cost of farming and livestock management by CAZRI will also be beneficial for the farmers of dry areas. Due to the new technologies and research achievements being developed by CAZRI from time to time, CAZRI bagged 8 out of 10 National Awards of ICAR in the last six years.
Shri Tomar also inaugurated the newly constructed auditorium, Agri-business Nurturing Centre, environment friendly waste water treatment plant and Indoor Sports Hall at CAZRI.
Shri Tomar further added that under the able leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India will be Number One in producing every crop and agricultural product. Currently, India ranks first or second in the world in terms of most of the agricultural produce.
Shri Tomar said that the Indian agricultural economy is very strong, which will be sustained, making India fully capable of dealing with any big crisis. Shri Tomar said that as the Chief Minister of Gujarat before 2014 and as the Prime Minister, Shri Modi constantly thinks about keeping the village-poor and farmers on priority. In last 8 years, many schemes have been launched under the leadership of PM Modi for improving agriculture, providing income support and technology support to the farmers. 86 percent of the small farmers of the country organized themselves through FPOs, now process their produce as well as get reasonable prices, he said. PM Modi has set up a fund of one lakh crore rupees for development of infrastructure in the agriculture sector, out of which projects worth 14,000 crore rupees have already been approved, informed Shri Tomar.
Describing the contribution of scientists as important in the progress of the agriculture sector, Shri Tomar said that they should focus on increasing productivity with a bigger goal. Emphasizing on increasing the availability of planting material, he said that if CAZRI goes ahead in this filed, the Central Government will extend full support. Shri Tomar lauded CAZRI for its many achievements. CAZRI has done countless research and developed technologies for agricultural development in the arid region, which are examples for our desert areas as well as for the whole world, Shri Tomar said. CAZRI has adopted a holistic approach to the development of dry-agriculture.
In his address, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that India's prestige has increased all over the world under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Modi, today no platform can ignore India on any issue. Shri Shekhawat said that due to the hard work of farmers, contribution of agricultural scientists and policies of the government, today we have become recognised as an exporting country along with abundance of food grains. Prime Minister Shri Modi has taken steps to change the way we look at the agriculture sector and make it profitable. In the agriculture sector, many efforts have been made for the welfare of the farmers, whose results are visible. He said that the time has come to work from the perspective of how our farmers should work for the need of the world, how we should enable the farmers for this. Today food items are being judged on the basis of nutrition rather than weight, we are standing at the door of limitless possibilities. He talked about working on planting material in Jodhpur.
In his address, Shri Kailash Chaudhary said that CAZRI has contributed a lot to the cause of farmers. At one time this entire area was a desert. There was a problem of water scarcity, farmers were suffering, in such a situation, CAZRI brought new technology to the farmers. Today dates, pomegranates, and figs are being cultivated here and dragon fruit cultivation is about to start. In the coming days, the millet grown here will find it's due place in the world. There was a demand for a long time that research of millet should be done in Rajasthan, now millet research center is going to be opened by the center in Barmer.
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE and Director General of ICAR and Director of CAZRI, Dr. O.P. Yadav also addressed the function. Progressive farmers were honoured by Shri Tomar during the program.
9-Mar-2021: Agriculture Voltage Technology
Agri-voltaic system of 105 KW capacity was developed by ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur. This technology can increase the income of farmers by generation of electricity and growing of cash crops simultaneously on the same piece of land. Under component-I of KUSUM (Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthan Mahabhiyan) scheme, there is a provision for installation of Agri-voltaic system in farmers’ fields with a capacity ranging from 500 KW to 2 MW. Moreover, National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI) has also documented 13 operational Agri-voltaic systems in the country managed by different solar PV functionaries and public Institutes.
5-Aug-2022: Partnership between ICRISAT and ICAR for Water Management
The ICAR-ICRISAT collaborative work plan (2019-2023) includes three research projects. Major focus of one of these projects is the genetic improvement of grain legumes (Gram, Arhar and Groundnut) and dryland cereals (Jowar, Bajra and Ragi) for enhancing their productivity potential, adaptation and quality traits. A collaborative project on improving Bajra diversity in drought prone environment has been completed in September 2021. The ICRISAT works with several ICAR institutes for possible collaboration to improve the productivity of dryland through application of science-based rainwater harvesting and management technologies.
5-Feb-2022: PM kickstarts 50th Anniversary Celebrations of ICRISAT and inaugurates two research facilities
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Patancheru, Hyderabad and kickstarted the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT. The Prime Minister also inaugurated ICRISAT’s Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT’s Rapid Generation Advancement Facility. These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Prime Minister also unveiled a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launched a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion. Governor Telangana Smt Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Ministers Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Shri G. Kishan Reddy were among those present on the occasion.
The Prime Minister noted the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami and congratulated ICRISAT for 50 years. Underlining the importance of next 25 years for both the country and also for ICRISAT, the Prime Minister stressed the need for new goals and working for them. The Prime Minister lauded ICRISAT for their contribution in helping agriculture in large part of the world including India. He appreciated their contribution in water and soil management, improvement in crop variety, on-farm diversity and livestock integration. He also praised their holistic approach in integrating farmers with their markets and promoting pulses and chick pea production in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “Your research and technology have helped making agriculture easy and sustainable”, Shri Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that the worst affected by climate change are the people on the last rung of development with little resources. That is why, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s request to the world to pay special attention to the climate changes. He talked of LIFE- Lifestyle for Environment; P3 - Pro planet people movements and India’s net zero target by 2070. “Pro planet people is a movement that connects every community, every individual with climate responsibility to tackle the climate challenge. This is not limited to just words, but is also reflected in the actions of the Government of India”, he added.
Referring to 15 Agro-Climatic Zones and 6 seasons of the country, the Prime Minister highlighted the depth of ancient experience of Indian agriculture. He pointed out that India’s focus is on the fusion of ‘back to basic’ and ‘march to future’ to protect its farmers from climate challenge. “Our focus is on our more than 80 per cent farmers who are small and needs us the most”, the Prime Minister said.
He mentioned another dimension of changing India i.e. digital agriculture which he termed as India’s future and stressed that talented Indian youth can contribute a great deal in this. He listed areas like crop assessment, land records digitization, spraying insecticides and nutrients by drones which are witnessing increased use of technology and artificial intelligence. “India’s efforts are increasing relentlessly for empowering farmers through digital technology”, he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that in the Amrit Kaal, India is focusing on inclusive growth along with higher agriculture growth. Women in Agri-sector, are being supported through self-help groups. “Agriculture has the potential to take a large chunk of population out of poverty and take them towards better life-style. This Amrit Kaal will also provide new means to the farmers of geographically difficult areas”, he said.
The Prime Minister said that India is working on a dual strategy. On the one hand, a large part of the land is being brought under irrigation through water conservation and connecting of rivers. Water use efficiency through micro irrigation is being encouraged in areas with limited irrigation, on the other.
The Prime Minister said that National Mission for self-reliance in edible oils indicates India’s new approach. The Mission aims to increase palm oil area by 6 lakh hectare. “This will help Indian farmers at every level and will prove very beneficial for the famers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana”, the Prime Minister pointed out. He also dwelled on the steps taken to strengthen post-harvest infrastructure like creating cold chain storage capacity of 35 million tonnes and creation of 1 lakh crore rupees Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
India is also focusing on establishing FPOs and Agriculture value chain. “We wish to create an alert and potent market force out of small farmer by organizing them into thousands of FPOs”, he said.
The Prime Minister said that India’s goal is not just increasing food grain production. India has enough surplus food grain to run one of the world’s big food security programme. “We are focusing on food security as well as nutrition security. With this vision, we have developed many bio-fortified varieties in the last 7 years”.
ICRISAT is an international organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia & sub-Saharan Africa. It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.
4-Aug-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Shillong, will execute 110 projects in Eight North Eastern States by 2024
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Shillong will execute 110 projects in Eight North Eastern States by 2024.
In a statement laid on the table of the Rajya Sabha, Dr Jitendra Singh said, NESAC has coordinated preparation of Plan of Actions (PoA) by the Nodal Departments of the eight States. These projects are in the domains of Agriculture, Water Resources, Forestry & Ecology, Planning & Development, UAV Remote Sensing and Disaster Management Support, with joint funding from MDoNER, DoS and State Governments.
NESAC has developed and achieved following major milestones for the North Eastern Region including:
- Implementation of North Eastern Spatial Data Repository (NeSDR)
- Identification of potential areas for development of sericulture & horticulture,
- Remote Sensing based forest working plans & river atlas,
- Geospatial system for monitoring MDoNER sponsored projects & survey of Record of Forest Rights (RoFR),
- Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS) for Assam, and
- Training & capacity building, including for professionals from BIMSTEC region
- Satellite imaging-based inputs to support settling of border disputes between North Eastern States undertaken as per suggestion of MHA.
North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Shillong: Established in 2000, jointly with North Eastern Council (NEC), NESAC is as an autonomous institution under Dept. of Space (DOS) to provide space technology inputs and services for the development of the North Eastern Region. NESAC is engaged in executing remote sensing application projects for natural resources management & infrastructure development, satellite communication-based applications in education; health & disaster management support, and training & capacity building in space technology & applications.