- Tomar was addressing the 92nd annual general meeting of ICAR
- Union Minister asked ICAR to make farm sector job-oriented through NEP
- Research and innovation in farm sector could attract the youth and increase farmers’ income
TAD NewsDesk, New Delhi: At the 92nd Annual General Meeting of ICAR on 27 January, Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR) to make farm sector more job-oriented.
“ICAR through research and innovation should try to make the agriculture sector attractive enough to woo young talent. Efforts under the new education policy will empower farmers and enhance their income,” said Tomar focusing on the new education policy.
According to Tomar, India has been able to yield record food grains and with technology-driven farming. By 2022, the farmers will be able to double their incomes.
“Hard work of farmers and latest technologies developed by the agricultural scientists have helped the country to achieve an important place in milk production and fisheries sector at the global level,” he said.
Addressing the panel discussion on ‘Unlocking Innovation to Transform Food Systems’ during the World Economic Forum’s week-long online Davos Agenda Summit, Tomar emphasised that the government was committed to providing nutritional food to Indian citizens.
“Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the government provides subsidies food grains to 81 crore people in the country. Apart from that, the government runs various other schemes to ensure proper nutrition to children, women and people of weaker section. We have also launched the National Nutrition Mission,” he said.
Moreover, Tomar highlighted that the health of the soil and post-harvest management pose a major challenge to the government.
“We have set up Rs 1 lakh crore fund under the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme for developing cold chains, warehouses and value chain for food produce. We have also distributed soil health cards to farmers suggesting them usage of the right quantity of fertiliser, water and seeds depending upon the quality of soil,” Tomar said.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in the agriculture sector of the country. Recently, the ICAR has constituted a six-member committee to devise ways for bringing farm education in accordance with the vision of NEP envisaged by the Modi government.
“The Union Minister urged to make the agricultural sector to be more employment-oriented with the help of the New Education Policy,” said an official statement.
Applauding efforts of the agri-scientists to revolutionise the farm sector, the minister said that ICAR could develop new varieties of crops. Countering the challenges posed by the pandemic, the council was successful in achieving significant growth in the production of various essential food crops.
Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, Ministers of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala and Kailash Choudhary were also present in the meeting.
Source – Economic Times
