Indian Council of Agricultural Research celebrates its 95th Foundation and Technology Day
17 July 2023, New Delhi: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) celebrated its 95th Foundation Day yesterday at National Agriculture Science Complex, Pusa, New Delhi.
Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and President of ICAR Society was the Chief Guest of the program. Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry – Dairying, and Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare also graced the occasion.
Mr. Tomar appreciated the historic journey of ICAR and its overall achievements during the last 94 years. He exhorted that India is a surplus nation in terms of food grains and providing food to 80 crore people in the country. With the encouragement of the Prime Minister, new technology in agriculture has been promoted through various new mission programs for the benefit of farmers. Agricultural products from India are being preferred globally and millets are getting significance in the International Year of Millets, he added. This is happening because of the sincere efforts of farmers and scientists. The Minister said exports earned from agricultural and horticultural products have crossed 50 billion US dollars. He informed that Government is emphasizing organic farming and natural farming and a separate mission has been initiated with a budget provision of Rs.1500 crore for the promotion of eco-friendly agriculture. Further, he lauded the scientists and farmers for their great service to the nation in making the country not only self-sufficient in many commodities but also becoming an exporter of food items.
Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairy, Mr. Rupala acclaimed ICAR for several remarkable achievements which have revolutionized the dairy and fisheries sector. He further mentioned that the time has come to earn carbon credits from agriculture which can be explored for additional income. He also inaugurated an exhibition showcasing innovative technologies developed by 113 ICAR research institutes.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ministry, Mr. Choudhary shared his views on the occasion and appreciated ICAR. He further mentioned that after 5 years ICAR will complete 100 years and this is the right time to strategize to set milestones for advancement in agriculture to be achieved in the centenary year.
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) and Director General (ICAR) said that unprecedented growth in the agriculture sector has been recorded. He emphasized that India is not only self-sufficient in the production of food grains but is also exporting agriculture and agricultural products in large quantities. In his presentation, he highlighted the achievement made by ICAR such as the development of 346 varieties of food grains, 99 varieties of horticulture crops, mapping of efficient cropping system zones, fertigation schedule for 24 crops, 28 new equipment and machinery, coronavirus and lumpy disease vaccines, new diagnostics, the breeding protocol of new fish breeds, conduction of 47,088 on-farm trials and 2.99 lakh front line demonstration on new technologies. He also mentioned that 58 patents and 711 technology licensing agreements were signed by agriculture scientists from different industries. To promote agriculture innovations for commercialization, Scientist-Industry interface meetings are also organized as side events.
This is the first time, Foundation Day is celebrated as Technology Day, therefore, an exhibition has been organized to showcase ICAR technologies for the benefit of farmers, students, and agri-industry. This exhibition has been opened for the public from 16-18 July 2023 for awareness to the people of the innovations made by ICAR.
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