Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 109 new high-yielding, climate-resilient, and bio-fortified crop varieties developed by ICAR-affiliated institutes. Approved for use across India’s 15 agro-climatic zones, these seeds aim to boost agricultural productivity and combat climate change. The seeds, including cereals, rice, maize, wheat, oilseeds, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, and various horticulture crops, will be available for large-scale cultivation in 2-3 years. This initiative addresses recent erratic weather impacts and supports sustainable farming practices.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched 109 new weather-resilient, high-yielding, and bio-fortified seed varieties developed by institutes affiliated with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). These ‘breeder seeds’ have been approved by the Central Variety Release Committee for use across the 15 agro-climatic zones in India.
The seeds are expected to be available for large-scale cultivation within the next two to three years, aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity.
Himanshu Pathak, director general, ICAR stated, “Following a year of field demonstration, the seed varieties would be available to farmers in the next year through development of ‘certified seeds’ for the farmers through collaboration with private and public seed companies.”
The field crop seed varieties released include cereals (23), rice (9) maize (6) and wheat (2), oilseeds (7), pulses (11), sugarcane (4), cotton (5), millets, forage crops, and fibre crops. Among the 40 varieties of horticulture crops include fruits, vegetables, plantation crops, tubers, spices, flowers, and medicinal plants.
These seeds will be distributed to state seed corporations, the national seed corporation, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and other state-run agricultural institutes for multiplication into ‘foundation seeds’ for farmers.
Notably, two rice varieties suitable for direct seeding rather than traditional nursery transplanting have been introduced, potentially reducing water usage by at least 30% in paddy cultivation. This development follows Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement in the 2024-25 budget, highlighting the release of 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties.
This initiative comes in response to erratic weather conditions in 2022 and 2023 that negatively impacted wheat yields. To address this, the government has set a target to introduce heat-tolerant wheat varieties across 60% of the nearly 32 million hectares of wheat cultivation area. The new seed varieties are expected to enhance agricultural productivity while preserving local biodiversity and reducing production costs for farmers.
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