PM kickstarts 50th Anniversary Celebrations of ICRISAT and inaugurates two research facilities

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) campus in Patancheru, Hyderabad and kickstarted the 50th Anniversary celebrations of ICRISAT. The Prime Minister also inaugurated ICRISAT’s Climate Change Research Facility on Plant Protection and ICRISAT’s Rapid Generation Advancement Facility. These two facilities are dedicated to the smallholder farmers of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Prime Minister also unveiled a specially designed logo of ICRISAT and launched a commemorative stamp issued on the occasion. Governor Telangana Smt Tamilisai Soundararajan, Union Ministers Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Shri G. Kishan Reddy were among those present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister noted the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami and congratulated ICRISAT for 50 years. Underlining the importance of next 25 years for both the country and also for ICRISAT, the Prime Minister stressed the need for new goals and working for them. The Prime Minister lauded ICRISAT for their contribution in helping agriculture in large part of the world including India. He appreciated their contribution in water and soil management, improvement in crop variety, on-farm diversity and livestock integration. He also praised their holistic approach in integrating farmers with their markets and promoting pulses and chick pea production in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “Your research and technology have helped making agriculture easy and sustainable”, Shri Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that the worst affected by climate change are the people on the last rung of development with little resources. That is why, the Prime Minister reiterated India’s request to the world to pay special attention to the climate changes. He talked of LIFE- Lifestyle for Environment; P3 - Pro planet people movements and India’s net zero target by 2070. “Pro planet people is a movement that connects every community, every individual with climate responsibility to tackle the climate challenge. This is not limited to just words, but is also reflected in the actions of the Government of India”, he added.

Referring to 15 Agro-Climatic Zones and 6 seasons of the country, the Prime Minister highlighted the depth of ancient experience of Indian agriculture. He pointed out that India’s focus is on the fusion of ‘back to basic’ and ‘march to future’ to protect its farmers from climate challenge. “Our focus is on our more than 80 per cent farmers who are small and needs us the most”, the Prime Minister said.

He mentioned another dimension of changing India i.e. digital agriculture which he termed as India’s future and stressed that talented Indian youth can contribute a great deal in this. He listed areas like crop assessment, land records digitization, spraying insecticides and nutrients by drones which are witnessing increased use of technology and artificial intelligence. “India’s efforts are increasing relentlessly for empowering farmers through digital technology”, he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that in the Amrit Kaal, India is focussing on inclusive growth along with higher agriculture growth. Women in agri-sector, are being supported through self-help groups. “Agriculture has the potential to take a large chunk of population out of poverty and take them towards better life-style. This Amrit Kaal will also provide new means to the farmers of geographically difficult areas”, he said.

The Prime Minister said that India is working on a dual strategy. On the one hand, a large part of the land is being brought under irrigation through water conservation and connecting of rivers. Water use efficiency through micro irrigation is being encouraged in areas with limited irrigation, on the other.

The Prime Minister said that National Mission for self-reliance in edible oils indicates India’s new approach. The Mission aims to increase palm oil area by 6 lakh hectare. “This will help Indian farmers at every level and will prove very beneficial for the famers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana”, the Prime Minister pointed out. He also dwelled on the steps taken to strengthen post-harvest infrastructure like creating cold chain storage capacity of 35 million tonnes and creation of 1 lakh crore rupees Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

India is also focusing on establishing FPOs and Agriculture value chain. “We wish to create an alert and potent market force out of small farmer by organizing them into thousands of FPOs”, he said.

The Prime Minister said that India’s goal is not just increasing food grain production. India has enough surplus food grain to run one of the world’s big food security programme. “We are focusing on food security as well as nutrition security. With this vision, we have developed many bio-fortified varieties in the last 7 years”.

ICRISAT is an international organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia & sub-Saharan Africa. It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.

आपके पास 5 दशकों का अनुभव है।

इन 5 दशकों में आपने भारत सहित दुनिया के एक बड़े हिस्से में कृषि क्षेत्र की मदद की है।

आपकी रिसर्च, आपकी टेक्नॉलॉजी ने मुश्किल परिस्थितियों में खेती को आसान और सस्टेनेबल बनाया है: PM @narendramodi at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of ICRISAT

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

भारत ने climate challenge से निपटने के लिए दुनिया से इस पर विशेष ध्यान देने का आग्रह किया है।

भारत ने 2070 तक नेट ज़ीरो का टारगेट तो रखा ही है, हमने LIFE- Lifestyle for Environment की ज़रूरत को भी हाईलाइट किया है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

Pro planet people एक ऐसा मूवमेंट है जो क्लाइमेट चैलेंज से निपटने के लिए हर community को, हर Individual को climate responsibility से जोड़ता है।

ये सिर्फ बातों तक सीमित नहीं है, बल्कि भारत सरकार के एक्शन्स में भी रिफ्लेक्ट होता है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

भारत में 15 Agro-Climatic Zones हैं।

हमारे यहां, वसंत, ग्रीष्म, वर्षा, शरद, हेमंत और शिशिर, ये 6 ऋतुएं भी होती हैं।

यानि हमारे पास एग्रीकल्चर से जुड़ा बहुत विविध और बहुत प्राचीन अनुभव है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

Climate challenge से अपने किसानों को बचाने के लिए हमारा फोकस back to basics और march to future, दोनों के फ्यूजन पर है।

हमारा फोकस देश के उन 80 प्रतिशत से अधिक छोटे किसानों पर है, जिनको हमारी सबसे अधिक ज़रूरत है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

बदलते हुए भारत का एक महत्वपूर्ण पक्ष है- डिजिटल एग्रीकल्चर।

ये हमारा फ्यूचर है और इसमें भारत के टेलेंटेड युवा, बहुत बेहतरीन काम कर सकते हैं।

डिजिटल टेक्नॉलॉजी से कैसे हम किसान को empower कर सकते हैं, इसके लिए भारत में प्रयास निरंतर बढ़ रहे हैं: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

हम दोहरी रणनीति पर काम कर रहे हैं।

एक तरफ हम water conservation के माध्यम से नदियों को जोड़कर एक बड़े क्षेत्र को irrigation के दायरे में ला रहे हैं।

वहीं दूसरी तरफ, हम कम सिंचित क्षेत्रों में Water use Efficiency बढ़ाने के लिए माइक्रो इरिगेशन पर जोर दे रहे हैं: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

आज भारत में हम FPOs और एग्रीकल्चर वैल्यू चेन के निर्माण पर भी बहुत फोकस कर रहे हैं।

देश के छोटे किसानों को हज़ारों FPOs में संगठित करके हम उन्हें एक जागरूक और बड़ी मार्केट फोर्स बनाना चाहते हैं: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

हम food security के साथ-साथ nutrition security पर फोकस कर रहे हैं।

इसी विजन के साथ बीते 7 सालों में हमने अनेक bio-fortified varieties का विकास किया है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 5, 2022

Click here to read full text speech