ICAR develops over 4,000 varieties of crops

Agriculture and food processing industries minister Sharad Pawar told the Lok Sabha today that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has so far developed more than 4,000 varieties of different crops suitable for varied agro-climatic zones of the country.

In some crops like Bt cotton, hybrid maize, vegetable etc, the requirement of farmers are also met through seeds developed by private / multinational seed companies, he said.

The research institutes of ICAR and state agriculture universities have upgraded their infrastructure facilities, particularly for biotech research, specific area of research.

Specific facilities have also been developed for evaluation of germplasm for different traits, including biotic and abiotic stresses and their seed quality research has been strengthened.

Besides this, the major emphasis has been on developing the hybrids particularly in rice and pigeonpea, he added.

Pawar also said the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has developed crop varieties that have tolerance / resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses induced by adverse weather conditions such as drought, heat, flood, water stagnation, etc. These crop varieties are under cultivation in different agro-climatic conditions for mitigating the adverse impact of weather/climate, Pawar said.