- The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will launch its “One Scientist, One Product” program to enhance agricultural and animal husbandry research.
- ICAR will announce the release of 323 varieties of 56 crops, including cereals, oilseeds, forage crops, and sugarcane. It includes climate-resilient and bio-fortified varieties.
- All 5,521 ICAR scientists develop a product, technology, model, concept, or publication.
- Scientists or groups of scientists will identify their product at the beginning of each year, with progress monitored quarterly at the institute level and semi-annually at the headquarters level.
- The program will run for five years, prioritizing seed hubs for high-yielding oilseeds and pulses varieties this year.
- ICAR Director-General explained that ICAR is also working on developing 100 new seed varieties and 100 farm technologies within 100 days as part of the Centre’s action plan.
| Biofortification It is the process by which the nutrient density of food crops is increased through conventional plant breeding, and/or improved agronomic practices and/or modern biotechnology without sacrificing any characteristic that is preferred by consumers or most importantly to farmers. It is recognized as a nutrition-sensitive-agriculture intervention that can reduce vitamin and mineral deficiency. Iron-biofortification of beans, cowpea and pearl millet, zinc-biofortification of maize, rice, and wheat, and pro-vitamin A carotenoid-biofortification of cassava, maize, rice, and sweet potato are currently underway and at different stages of development. |
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