Latest news with #IndianCouncilofAgricultureResearch
The Hindu
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Agriculture should turn remunerative for farmers, says Krishnaraj Vanavarayar in Coimbatore
Agriculture sector should be remunerative for farmers, said educationist Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, who inaugurated the 23rd edition of agriculture fair Agri Intex 2025 in Coimbatore on Thursday. More number of people are moving out of farming though it is generally said that agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy. There is an increase in production of food grains and productivity is also on the rise. Mechanisation is picking up in farming and there is an export market too. Yet, farmers are unhappy and their children are not venturing into agriculture. 'The country should move towards agriculture,' he said. According to K.P. Singh, ADG, Farm Engineering at the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), agriculture constitutes 18% of the GDP and women in agriculture are 35% to 40% . By 2047, when the country is expected to be a developed nation, women will constitute 65% of agriculture. In such a situation, 'We need to think of mechanisation and intervention.' While mechanisation in agriculture is growing annually at 8%, artificial intelligence and robotics in agri mechanisation are seeing 15% growth. R. Thamizh Vendan, Registrar of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said the University has launched a Climate Smart Village project at 365 villages. The University has a weather forecast for the next 25 years for these villages and sends the farmers weather alerts every day through a mobile application. About six lakh farmers are benefitting from it, he said. The Agri Intex event has more than 600 stalls and nearly two lakh farmers are expected to visit it. While entry is free for farmers who have an identity card, the entry fee for the public is ₹50 a person.
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Business Standard
08-05-2025
- Science
- Business Standard
Centre to reach 15 mn farmers via seed campaign by June 12: Chouhan
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced a 15-day pan-India campaign — starting on May 29 and culminating on June 12 — to create awareness among 10-15 million farmers across 700 districts on modern technology and new seed varieties. As part of the campaign named 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan', around 2,000 teams comprising farm scientists, state officials, and progressive farmers among others, will fan out across the country connecting with farmers. Each of the 2,000 teams will have three meetings every day at district level. The aim is to reach out to 1-1.2 million farmers every day. Around 3,100 agriculture scientists have been trained as master trainers, who will impart training to farmers on new practices. Addressing the 'National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign' here, Chouhan stressed the need for improving agriculture extension services to boost productivity and production of all major crops. Chouhan said he will also write to all chief ministers to make this campaign a success. Meanwhile, as part of the campaign, farmers will be given a feedback form where they will highlight their experiences and lessons learnt. The mega campaign will be monitored nationally through a dedicated cell. Sources said a special focus of the campaign, particularly in paddy-growing areas, will be on direct-seed rice and also on other climate-resistant varieties. Special labs, where farmers can come and get their soils tested, will also move with the dedicated teams, they added. Direct-seeding likely to be more scientific The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) plans to convert 1 million hectares where rice is grown through the direct-seeded method but in a traditional manner into more scientific methods, which would boost overall rice production by 5 million tonnes (mt). The plan is part of the efforts to lower paddy acreage by 5 million hectares but boost production by 10 mt over the next few years. The plan was detailed by ICAR Director General ML Jat at the national conference on Thursday. India has targeted to produce 354 million tonnes (mt) of foodgrain in the 2025-26 crop season that will start from June. The target is almost 4 per cent higher than the actual production of the 2024-25 season. In this, rice production is projected at 147 mt while wheat output is targeted at 117 mt in 2025-26. Pulses production is targeted at 26.4 mt and oilseeds output at 44.7 mt. Already, the country's foodgrain production has reached 330.92 million tonnes in the kharif and rabi seasons of the current 2024-25 crop year. The production estimates for summer (zaid) sowing are yet to be released. The foodgrain production in the summer season (zaid), sown between February and June which is between rabi harvest and kharif sowing season, stood at 16.5 million tonnes in 2023-24.
