PM Narendra Modi unveils Bt cotton, 108 other high-yielding seed varieties

Urges KVKs to spread awareness about the new seeds every month among farmers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified seed varieties, including Bt cotton suitable for rain-fed areas, to enhance agricultural productivity and farmers' income.

Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the seed varieties span 61 crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. Modi unveiled the seeds at three experimental agriculture plots at Delhi's Pusa Campus, where he also interacted with farmers and scientists, according to an official statement.

Modi stressed the significance of value addition in agriculture while discussing the importance of these new varieties with farmers. Farmers present on the occasion said the new varieties would be highly beneficial to them for their lower input costs, it said.

For horticulture, the prime minister released new varieties of fruit, vegetables, plantation crops, tubers, spices, flowers, and medicinal plants, while for field crops, he released new varieties of cereals, millets, forage crops, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, and fiber crops.

Underscoring the importance of millets, Modi said people were moving towards nutritious foods while talking about the benefits of natural farming and the growing faith of common people in organic farming. Modi highlighted the growing consumption and demand for organic foods.

Farmers appreciated the government for promoting natural farming and the role played by Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) in creating awareness, the official statement said.

Later, talking to reporters, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the new seed varieties could boost crop yields even in adverse weather conditions.

Lauding scientists, Modi said the KVKs should proactively inform farmers about the new varieties developed by researchers every month for farmers’ benefit, the statement said.

The scientists said they were following the prime minister’s suggestion and working to bring unutilised crops into the mainstream, it said.