“At Least 25% of Farming Should be Done Using Organic & Natural Farming Techniques,” says Kailash Choudhary

The chief guest and other dignitaries were welcomed by Dr Ashok Kumar Singh, Director of ICAR-IARI. During the ceremony, six Fellow Farmers and 42 Innovative Farmers with the 'IARI Innovative Farmer Award,' including women farmers, were honoured.

Kailash Choudhary stated in his address that India's farm output increased from 265 Million Tonnes in 2013-14 to 315 MT last year and is expected to reach 324 MT this fiscal year. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a goal of four stages of farmer welfare, namely Superior Quality Seeds, Lower Working Costs, Improve Storage & Transportation, and Enable Markets, which provide remunerative prices for farmers' produce.

Choudhary stated that the Agriculture Ministry has directed ICAR to ensure that at least 25% of agricultural land is farmed using Organic and Natural Farming techniques. He emphasized the importance of working to develop millet varieties for nutritional security. He emphasized the importance of new and innovative farm technologies in ensuring food and environmental security.

He stated that modern technologies and crop varieties must reach farmers quickly and be demonstrated on farmers' fields in order to gain farmers' trust.

Choudhary stated that the government is working to increase the use of technology in agriculture through various schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the Soil Health Card Scheme, Organic Agriculture, and the Traditional Agriculture Development Scheme (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana), with the goal of increasing the income of small and marginal farmers.

Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE & Director General, ICAR, announced on the occasion that each ICAR Institute will conduct a training programme for farmers each year. Pragati (Progress) and Prakriti (Nature) must go hand in hand, he said. Dr. Pathak stated that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who recently visited ICAR-IARI for about two hours at the Pusa Campus, tweeted that India's agricultural research centre is the best in the world.

A large number of farmers from across the country attended the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela-2023, benefiting from live demonstrations of climate resilient wheat, mustard, lentil, chickpea, vegetables, flowers, and fruit crops, as well as useful and advanced knowledge of the integrated farming system model. During the valedictory ceremony, Dr Rabindra Nath Padaria, Joint Director (Extension), Dr JPS Dabaas, In-charge, CATAT, ICAR-IARI, and other dignitaries were also present.

ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute organized the massive event. Several ICAR institutes from across the country took part in the three-day mega farmers' fair, which featured special exhibitions on millets (Shree Anna), farmer-friendly technologies, innovations, and products.