Union Minister of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday inaugurated the new Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Assam campus.
Speaking on the occasion, Tomar announced that the IARI, Assam will be named after Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
"As visualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the setting up of this institute will give an impetus to the development of agricultural education and research in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mpur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim, in addition to Assam. By the year 2050, the population of the country and the challenge of climate change will increase considerably. The government is working in the direction that the country's agricultural sector remains strong to be able to meet these challenges and there are sufficient food reserves at all times," he said
Appreciating the lead role played by the country's agricultural scientists in bringing about the Green Revolution by developing several high yielding seed and crop varieties, the Union Minister stated that "India is now not only self-sufficient but also a surplus in foodgrains production. The Government has made efforts to plug the gaps in the development process, and as a result, new Agricultural Research Institutes have been established in Jharkhand and Assam."
The Minister stressed that in view of the challenge of climate change and water scarcity, "it is important to undertake crop diversification and develop varieties which require less water to grow".
He also emphasised on the importance of locally grown crops for enhancing farmers' income and export opportunities.
IARI is known as the seat of the "Green Revolution" which has contributed immensely to the development of science-based technologies and quality human resources. In both these areas, Eastern India is far behind the other parts of the country.
The Eastern states including Assam possess huge potential to bring about the much-needed second Green Revolution in the country. It was also realised that this is an opportune time to replicate the success of IARI in the Eastern part of the country.
( With inputs from ANI )
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