Prime Minister Modi to launch 35 crop varieties with special traits

Seeking to create mass awareness for adoption of climate resilient technologies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation 35 crop varieties with special traits on Tuesday.

During the virtual ceremony, he will also inaugurate the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance, Raipur, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Monday.

On the occasion, Modi will distribute the Green Campus Award to agricultural universities and interact with farmers who use innovative methods, before addressing a gathering, it added.

The PMO noted that the crop varieties with special traits have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.

Thirty-five such varieties have been developed in 2021, it said.

These include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease resistant varieties of rice and bio-fortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean, the PMO said.

These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.

The National Institute of Biotic Stress Management at Raipur has been established to take up the basic and strategic research in biotic stresses, develop human resources and provide policy support. The institute has started PG courses from the academic session 2020-21, the PMO noted.

Mentioning the Green Campus Awards, the PMO said it has been initiated to motivate state and central agricultural universities to develop or adopt such practices which will render their campuses more green and clean, and motivate students to get involved in 'Swachh Bharat Mission', 'Waste to Wealth Mission' and community connect as per the National Education Policy-2020.