The Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela (PKVM)– 2021 of ICAR-IARI, New Delhi was inaugurated on 25th February, 2021by the Chief Guest Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Chaudhary was also present with him on behalf of Govt of India. Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR presided over the inaugural function and Dr Sanjay Singh, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR) was the Guest of Honour. Dr AK Singh, Director IARI; Dr Indramani Mishra, Head, Division of Agril. Engineering and Dr JP S Dabas, In-charge, CATAT were also present during the ceremony. This year the Mela is being organised by following social distancing and other Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Government of India. Dr AK Singh welcomed the dignitaries on dias, farmers and other visitors of the Mela and briefed the august gathering on various improved technologies of ICAR-IARI, including seeds and planting materials of various crops, which are the star attraction of the mela. A total of 15 varieties of field crops were released during this year. In rice, Pusa Basmati 1692, an early maturing (115 days) Basmati rice variety with high yield (52.6 q/ha) and excellent grain and cooking quality has been released and the seeds are available in the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela. Two bio-fortified wheat varieties namely, HD 3298; and HI 1633 enriched with micro-nutrients and protein were released. Single zero quality mustard variety, Pusa Mustard 32 (<2% erucic acid content) with high yield potential (27q/ha) and bold seed was released for North Western Plains. Thirty-five open pollinated fruits and vegetables were also recently developed, including Mango varieties Pusa Manohari and Pusa Deepsikha with thin skin, excellent texture and taste, long shelf-life. Burning of crop residues (paddy and wheat) is a common menace causing severe environmental problems in addition to wasting the nutrient-rich biomass. Pusa Decomposer, a consortium of seven fungal species, developed both in liquid and capsule forms for rapid decomposition of paddy straw by Division of Microbiology was successfully demonstrated over 5000 ha area in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and UP. Amongst post-harvest and food processing technologies, he congratulated the popularity and commercialization of pearl millet flour, branded as Hallur. He highlighted the Pusa Farm Sun Fridge, which can preserve up to two tons of fruits and vegetables for 15 days, works on solar energy and maintains the temperature between 4-120C. IARI has also launched a programme named “Pusa Samachar” which provides weekly update on varieties/technologies/management practices and weather updates for benefits of farmers/stakeholders, the videos of which are shared on social media. More than 15000 people are connected with PKVM 2021 online through You tube and Facebook. Dr T Mohapatra congratulated the farmers who came from far-flung areas in this epidemic situation, to gain knowledge from this mela. He mentioned this kind of mela is conducted very year across the ICAR institutes to showcase the improved ICAR technologies for benefit of the farming community. He stressed on the importance of adopting improved technologies for pulses and oilseeds production, so as to reduce the burden of import on our national exchequer, which will be a strong step in building a robust economy. He emphasized on the importance of using quality seeds and adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to increase the quality of the produce, which will serve the nation and increase our access and share in export market. He also reiterated the release of 17 bio-fortified varieties in 8 different crops by Prime minister to the nation. Kailash Chaudhary appreciated the uniqueness of the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela. He lauded the farmers as well as agricultural scientists for picking up the challenging task of registering 6 percent growth in annual agricultural production, inspite of these trying times of Covid-19 pandemic, when almost every economies of the world were badly hit. He appreciated the IARI fellow farmers and the Padmashri awardee farmers present on dias, for their progressive outlook towards agriculture. He congratulated IARI for developing the Pusa Farm Sun Fridge for reducing spoilage of the horticultural produce. With this unique creation, the farmers are now empowered to wait for better market rates in future dates. He stressed on the importance of availability of timely market facilities for the farmers, for which Government has increased the spending on infrastructure. This is reflected from the allocation of Rs 1 lakh 35000 crores towards agricultural budget. He showed Government’s earnest efforts to implement recommendations of M S Swaminathan report. He urged all farmers to understand the value of the farm laws and to take benefits out of it. Tomar described this Mela as a place to meet and mingle with farmers from all over the nation to exchange ideas and to procure quality inputs. He praised the healthy competition spirit generated amongst the farmers by these awards. He expressed his deep gratitude to farmers, bankers and other Covid warriors who allowed us to tide over the most difficult times presented by Corona situation. He reiterated on the Government’s efforts to implement programmes for benefit of the farmers and urged all the farmers to utilize them effectively and efficiently to reap maximum benefits from the same and, thus, grow into an Atmanirbhar Kisan. He focused on credit and flow of private investment in agricultural sector, formation of FPOs by entrepreneurs, etc. This will help in realising the long-cherished dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister in developing an Atmanirbhar Bhaarat. The major highlights of the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela 2021 (February 25-27, 2021) are as follows: • Live demonstration of Rabi crops Demonstration of protected cultivation of vegetables and flowers Exhibition and sale of farm equipment developed by IARI, ICAR institutes and private companies Sale of seeds and plants of improved varieties Free testing of soil and water samples Demonstration and sale of agricultural products and agrochemicals Demonstration of advanced irrigation methods Demonstration and sale of products developed by innovative farmers Farmer scientist interaction Women empowerment program Free distribution of farm literature Free health check up Innovative farmers conference Flower show Like every year, five farmers- Bhanwar Lal Kumawat of Rajasthan, DK Bhanubhai Desai of Gujarat, Jitendra Kumar Singhof Bihar, Mr. Ravindra M Metkar of Maharashtra and Sukhjeet S Bhangu of Punjab were awarded by the Hon’ble guests as IARI Fellow Farmers. This effort of the institute will keep the morale of the awarded farmers very high as they were honoured with the status of Farmer Professor, who can later act as ambassadors for our IARI technologies in their respective areas. In the subsequent technical session on Agricultural; Reforms and Entrepreneurship Development chaired by Dr RB Singh Former Chancellor, CAU and Member Farmers’ Commission esteemed speakers including Padma awardee farmers narrated their achievement and how these reforms are beneficial for the farming community.
