Question : RESEARCH ON AGRICULTURE

(a) whether agricultural research has played a vital role in agricultural transformation and in reducing hunger and poverty;

(b) if so, whether research in the past had tended to focus mostly on in- creasing yield potential by more intensive use of water and biochemical inputs;

(c) if so, the facts thereof;

(d) whether there is a lack of any clear agricultural research strategy or to assign definite responsibilities and prioritize the research agenda rationally;

(e) if so, the response of the Union Government thereon; and

(f) the steps taken by the Union Government to shift research from a commodity- based approach to a farming based system to address local problems identified by stakeholders?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

(a) Yes Madam, there is strong empirical evidence which shows that agricultural research has played a vital role in agricultural transformation. Agricultural research has made it possible to raise per capita availability of large number of food items in the country.

(b) & (c): Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has taken up several steps to increase agricultural productivity by minimum use of water, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and promoting short duration and drought resistant varie- ties and validating the results in farmers` fields. A total of 371 high yielding varieties/ hybrids of different food crops developed by the National Agricultural Research System have been released during the last five years. Breakthrough varie- ties such as Pusa Basmati 1121 and 1509 in rice, HD 2967 in wheat, JG 14 in chi- ckpea, IPM 02-3 in mungbean, JS 95-60 in soyabean, Co 86032, Co 0237 and Co 0238 in sugarcane, Suraj in cotton and castor hybrid GCH-7 are few examples for enhan- cing agricultural productivity in the country. About 2.86 lakh quintals of quality breeder seeds of improved varieties/hybrids of food crops was made available to the seed producing agencies during the last five years to fulfill the demand of national seed chain for ensuring higher productivity in the States through cultivation of improved varieties/hybrids.

ICAR is also providing requisite technology support to the farmers for optimizing crop productivity of dryland/rainfed farming in arid and semi-arid regions through efficient crop planning including agroforestry, intercropping, rain-water harvesting and storage for supplementary irrigation, Integrated watershed management, micro- irrigation, land management, integrated nutrient management and short/medium range weather forecasting. The research under the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture adequately covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource mana- gement while addressing the farmers` problems. To this effect, the Council has pre- pared 580 Contingency Plans for different districts of the country. By adopting a path of science-led growth of its agriculture, India reaped the dividends in the form of a strong, self-reliant and resilient food security.

(d) No, Madam.

(e) Doesn`t arise.

(f) There is a paradigm shift in agricultural research by ICAR from commodity based to efficient and environment conserving farming system to sustain higher agricultural productivity and profitability. ICAR is conducting research in farmers` participatory mode addressing local problems to develop location specific, cost- effective, climate resilient technologies keeping in view the farmers` resource availability, traditional indigenous technology know-how and grassroot farm innovations to make Indian Agriculture more productive. Also Integrated Farming System is promoted and technical assistance is provided for setting up/ strengthening of existing Bio-fertilizer and/or Bio-pesticide Production Units and for setting up of fruit and vegetables wastes/ agro-wastes compost production units. All these interventions have been strengthened during the XII Plan.