AgriNation News Network
New Delhi. 16 July 2018
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh said the skill development through READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) has now been included for one complete year to attract youth to agriculture education. Besides, Agri services & Business by Harnessing Youth through Agricultural Skills, the one-year diploma course is proposed to be started, which will help young people to access information on agriculture thereby facilitating them to get jobs or start their own business. By coordinating ICAR’s agricultural research, education and advance line activities at a national level, more than 750 start-ups and agri entrepreneurs have been developed, including farmer entrepreneurs in various areas of agriculture. In the agribusiness incubation centres established in 24 ICAR centres, technical assistance is being provided to the entrepreneurs.
The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare congratulated scientists and officials of the of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with farmers from across India on ICAR’s 90th Foundation day and award ceremony function in New Delhi. Shri Singh said the efforts of the ICAR have not only helped India transform from an importing nation to an exporting nation but also provided self-sufficiency and nutritional security in foodgrains. Due to the efforts of our skilled scientists and the hard work of the farmers, the country today has a buffer stock in food grain.
Shri Singh expressed happiness and said that due to the techniques developed by ICAR and hard work of the farmers, food grain production touched 275.68 million tonnes this year, which is 10.64 million tonnes more than 265.04 million tonnes recorded in 2013-14. Horticulture production has touched 305 million tonnes this year. The country is also moving forward in pulses production and with around 23 million tonnes of pulses production this year, close to self-sufficiency. Due to this, the import of pulses has gone down from 10 lakh tonnes in 2016-17 to 5.65 lakh tonnes in 2017-18, saving the country Rs 9775 crore in foreign exchange. The Pusa basmati 1121 variety of Basmati rice developed by ICAR has helped India earn more than Rs 18,000 crore in foreign exchange every year. During 2010-14, India earned Rs 62,800 crore in foreign exchange from exports, which rose to Rs Rs 71,900 crore in 2014-18.
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