PM To Dedicate To The Nation 35 Crop Varieties With Special Traits Today
New Delhi, Sep 28 (TNA) In an endeavour to create mass awareness for adoption of climate resilient technologies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate 35 crop varieties with special traits to the Nation today at 11 am via video conferencing.
The event will be held pan India and is being organised at all ICAR Institutes, State and Central Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs). During the programme, the Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the newly constructed campus of National Institute of Biotic Stress Management Raipur.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister will distribute Green Campus Award to Agricultural Universities, as well as interact with farmers who use innovative methods and address the gathering. Union Minister of Agriculture and Chief Minister Chhattisgarh will be present on the occasion.
Examples of such varieties include Pusa Double Zero Mustard 33, first Canola quality hybrid RCH 1 with <2% erucic acid and <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.
About crop varieties with special traits
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 crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient content have been developed in the year 2021.
These include a drought tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeon pea, 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.
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.