Press Conference for Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela held at I.A.R.I.

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) is an institute of par excellence in agricultural research and education in India. IARI has been playing a pivotal role in the advancement of agricultural research, education and extension as well as enhancing farmer’s prosperity for last 114 years. To achieve commitment towards realizing the goals of national food, nutritional and livelihood security through quality research, education, and extension, IARI has made much technological interventions in the field. Since 1972, the institute is organizing Krishi Mela for the transfer of technologies developed and to solve the problems of farming community. During 2018-19, institute released a high yielding, non-basmati, medium slender grain, blast resistant rice variety named “Pusa Sambha 1850” for Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Two new wheat varieties “HI 1612” and “HD 8777” were developed by ICAR-IARI, Regional Station, Indore for North Eastern Plain Zone and Peninsular Zone respectively. Institute has also released Maize hybrid “Pusa Super Sweet Corn 1” with enhanced sweetness with good grain (9.3 t/ha) and fodder (16.2 t/ha) yield. In Pearl millet, a number of inbreds having high iron (72-113ppm) and zinc content (40-55ppm) have been developed for nutraceutical importance.

In chickpea, high yielding extra-large kabuli chickpea (>50g/100 seeds) genotypes having high export potential; in pigeon pea, extra early and early varieties of dwarf stature and amenable to mechanical harvesting have been developed. Institute has identified germplasm lines of rice and wheat with >20% higher water use efficiency (WUE) as compared to the known checks viz., Nagina 22 and C306, respectively, and QTLs for WUE are also identified.

Grape hybrid “Pusa Aditi” was released by the Delhi State Variety Release Committee for its commercial cultivation in NCR region. The varieties of cherry tomato i.e. (Pusa Cherry Tomato-1) and onion (Pusa Sobha) have been released and notified by CVRC for cultivation under protected condition in Delhi NCR and major onion growing states of the country, respectively. Onion variety ‘Pusa Sona’ has been released by All India Network Project on Onion and Garlic and recommended for notification by CVRC. Ten new varieties, viz. Longmelon ‘Pusa Utkarsh’, round melon ‘Pusa Raunak’, cucumber (parthenocarpic, gynoecious) ‘Pusa Seedless Cucumber-6’, muskmelon ‘Pusa Madhurima’ & ‘Pusa Sunahari’, brinjal ‘Pusa Safed Baingan-1’ & ‘Pusa Hara Baingan-1’, okra (resistant to YVMV) ‘Pusa Bhindi-5, garden pea ‘Pusa Prabal’ and chenopodium ‘Pusa Green’ and two hybrids viz. sponge gourd ‘Pusa Shrestha’ and bitter gourd ‘Pusa Hybrid-4’ have been released for cultivation in Delhi NCR region.

400 nematode samples have been given digital form to provide information to the scientific community. For the benefit of the farmers, an Android app called 'NEMATODEINFO' has been launched to solve the problems related to nematode damage in plants. By downloading this app on mobile handset, solutions can be searched by available archives. An Integrated Farming System (IFS) Model has been developed by the Agronomy Division of IARI, for ensuring livelihood security of small and marginal farmers. This 1 ha area made IFS model intend to generate year-round income from appropriate integration of crops, dairy, fishery, duckery, biogas plant, fruit trees and agro-forestry, provided net returns of Rs 3,78,784/ha/year with an employment generation of 628 man-days. The soil testing tool, named Pusa Soil Test and Fertilizer Recommendation (STFR) Meter, has been upgraded to analyze fourteen soil parameters viz., pH, EC, OC, available nutrients [(derived N), P, K, S, Zn, B, Fe, Mn and Cu], gypsum and lime requirement. This soil testing kit can be used for generating soil health card.

The eco-friendly waste water treatment technology of the Centre was recently commercialized to the UP Jal Nigam for developing an eco-friendly wastewater treatment. KRISHI Portal (http://krishi.icar.gov.in) has been enriched through providing links of several online resources available/developed at different ICAR institutes. An institutional mechanism for upscaling IARI Post Office Linkage Extension model has been developed with Department of Posts, Government of India. Through this model, 2.3 tonnes of IARI paddy varieties were disseminated in 56 districts of 13 states. Similarly, 2.76 tonnes of IARI wheat varieties were disseminated in 9 districts of 6 states. To promote the direct interface of scientists with the farmers and strengthen the lab to land process, Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav programme is being implemented by IARI in 120 clusters comprising of more than 600 villages in 17 districts of Delhi and NCR.

Farmers can visit various research and display stalls at this fair. Lectures and discussions on topics related to agriculture will be held during Kisan Goshthi each day. Apart from this, crop, fruits, flowers, vegetable and animal exhibition are being organized during the Kisan Mela.