PM Modi to dedicate to nation 35 crop varieties with special traits tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation 35 crop varieties with special traits in a nation-wide programme on September 28, Tuesday. Meant to create mass awareness for adoption of climate resilient technologies, the pan-India event will be held at all ICAR institutes, state and central agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

The special crop varieties have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the climate change as well as malnutrition. These crop varieties features like climate resilience and higher nutrient content.

The 35 varieties include aa drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and fava bean.

These special traits crops include varieties that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health. Examples of such varieties include Pusa Double Zero Mustard 33, first Canola quality hybrid RCH 1 with less than 2 per cent erucic acid and less than 30 ppm glucosinolates and a soybean variety free from two anti-nutritional factors namely Kunitz trypsin inhibitor and lipoxygenase.

Other varieties with special traits have been developed in soybean, sorghum, and baby corn, among others.

PM Modi will also dedicate to the nation the newly constructed campus of National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance at Raipur. It has been established to take up the basic and strategic research in biotic stresses, develop human resources and provide policy support. Post-graduate courses have begun here from the academic session 2020-21.