Under a special program by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, 8,20,600 seed mini-kits will be distributed free of cost in 343 identified districts of 15 major producing states of the country, informed the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the ministry today, this program will increase production and productivity by increasing the seed replacement rate, which will help in increasing the income of the farmers.
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar launched the programme today by distributing mustard seed mini kits worth about Rs 2 crore in the Morena and Sheopur districts of Madhya Pradesh.
The program has been started under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) - Oil Seed and Oil Palm Scheme. Union Minister Shri Tomar informed that after the micro-level plan for the major mustard producing states of the country, approval has been given to implement the mini-kit distribution of rapeseed and mustard seeds this year.
The Ministry has approved 8,20,600 seed mini-kits, consisting of seeds of high yielding varieties of productivity more than 20 quintals per hectare, for distribution in 343 identified districts of 15 states. The program covers various districts of all the major producing states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. Rs 1066.78 lakh have been allotted for this program.
Tomar said that Morena and Sheopur of MP, Banaskantha in Gujarat, Hisar in Haryana, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Etah and Varanasi districts of Uttar Pradesh have been selected for distribution of hybrid seed mini kits under the pilot project during this year.
In these 7 districts of 5 states, 1,20,000 seed mini-kits from a total of 1615 quintals of seeds will be prepared and distributed. Each district will be given 15 thousand to 20 thousand seed mini-kits. In addition to the regular programme, three TL hybrid high yielding varieties of mustard have been selected for seed mini kit distribution. The selected varieties are JK-6502, Champion and Dawn.
The objective of the Seed Mini Kit program is to polarize new varieties with high yield potential and other useful features. The farmers of the adjoining districts will have faith in these varieties, which will result in mass adoption by the farmers, he added.
Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal said that Aatmanirbhar Bharat will be built through Aatmnirbhar Krishi. Working in this direction, programs have been taken up by the Ministry. Hybrid seeds are being distributed free of cost for the first time.
( With inputs from ANI )
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