India News | Govt Providing Financial Assistance to States, UTs for Seeds Production
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. As many as 1,956 high-yielding, stress-tolerant varieties of field crops have been released in the country since 2014, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) As many as 1,956 high-yielding, stress-tolerant varieties of field crops have been released in the country since 2014, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Choudhary also said that the Centre is providing financial assistance to different states and UTs for the production and distribution of agricultural seeds.
A total 1,956 high-yielding, stress-tolerant varieties of field crops which include 924 varieties of cereals (rice 442, wheat 127), 291 varieties of oilseeds, 304 varieties of pulses, 239 varieties of fibre and commercial crops, 118 varieties of forage crops, 64 varieties of sugarcane and 16 varieties of other crops for different agro-climatic zones of the country were released since 2014 onwards, he said.
Among these, more than 1,600 varieties are climate resilient crops, he said during Question Hour.
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The minister said for future seed planning, the central government has asked states and UTs to prepare seed rolling plan to ensure the availability of seeds in future.
The central government provides financial assistance to state governments and UTs for production, distribution of seeds and for other interventions related to the seed sector through various schemes like the Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSP), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for small and marginal farmers of the country, he said.
Choudhary said the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is carrying out various research programmes including 25 All India Coordinated Research Projects (AICRPs) and All India Network Projects (AINPs) and seven other projects through their 732 centres.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)