The council launched a National
Agricultural Research Project (NARP) in January 1979 with
assistance of World Bank to strengthen the research
capabilities of the agricultural universities. During
project's operation up to June 30,1996, 343 research
centres comprising zonal stations and sub-stations have
been established and strengthened under the control of
the state agricultural universities. The scientists have
developed income generating technologies for the farmers
of 120 agro-climatic zones covering the entire country. A
strong Agricultural Research Information System is being
established connecting all the ICAR institutes, state
agricultural universities and their zonal research
centres.
Development of High Yielding Varieties and Hybrids of Crops
The ICAR system has
developed and released more than 2300 high yielding
varieties and hybrids so far, leading to green
revolution. In all, 452 high yielding varieties and
hybrids of various field crops were released for general
cultivation during the VIII Plan period (1992-96). These
comprised of 222 cereals (rice 101, wheat 32, maize 26,
sorghum 20, pearl millet 15, small millets 21, barley 7),
92 pulses (pigeonpea 15, urdbean 16, mungbean 20,
chickpea 15, others 26), 75 oilseed crops (groundnut 21,
oilseed brassica 14, soybean 8, sunflower 10, sesamum 11,
others 9), 41 fibre crops (cotton 40, jute 1), and 12
varieties of sugarcane and 10 of tobacco. Of the 101 rice
varieties including 4 hybrids, 57 were for irrigated
ecosystem, 21 for rainfed uplands, 20 for rainfed
lowlands and 3 for saline soils. Out of 32 varieties of
wheat, 21 were for irrigated, timely sown and 5 for late
sown conditions. The remaining 6 were for rainfed areas.
The availability of the
high yielding varieties and other inputs resulted in the
Green Revolution in the country in the late sixties. The
modern varieties of wheat developed at the premier
research centre of ICAR, the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute(IARI), spread fast occupying more than 50% of
the area cultivated under wheat. Without this
achievement, the country would have been forced to usurp
20 million hectares of forest land and land engaged for
cultivation of other crops, besides arranging 40 million
hectares of additional land, to meet the current level of
demand for wheat.
The ICAR participated in the Yellow Revolution brought out through increased production of the oilseeds which was catalyzed by the Technology Mission on Oilseeds. The increase in production of different oilseeds during the period 1985-86 to 1994-95 was spectacular - 26.96% in the groundnut, 111.50% in rapeseed-mustard, 420.50 % in soybean and 74.12% in the total oilseed crops. This resulted in saving of large part of foreign exchange being spent on the import of edible oil. In 1993-94 foreign exchange worth Rs 24633.5 million was earned through the export of oilmeal and oilcake. So far more than 300 modern varieties and hybrids of different oilseed crops have been released to the farmers.
Research on Horticulture, Spices and Livestock Products
India is the largest producer of fruits and second largest producer of vegetables in the world. It has virtually held monopoly in the trade of spices and condiments for centuries. During 1993-94 the export of horticultural products has led to substantial increase in foreign exchange to the tune of Rs. 6616.5 million. A large number of high yielding improved varieties of fruits, vegetables crops including potato, tuber and plantation crops have been evolved together with appropriate production and protection technology suitable for varying agro-climatic regions and situations in the country. The release of improved cultivars at national level have lead to substantial improvement in the overall productivity in the country.
India has also achieved breakthrough in the production of milk, meat, egg, wool and other livestock products. There are six central research institutes and two national institutes conducting research on buffalo, sheep, goat and poultry. A National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources is engaged in conserving the Indian animal breeds. National Research Centres on Equine, Camel, Yak, Mithun and Meat and two Project Directorates, one each on Cattle and Poultry, are developing new breeds and new technologies for increasing the productivity of the India's animal wealth. India has become the largest producer of milk. The annual production of eggs have crossed 28,000 million and broilers 300 million in 1996.
The eight fisheries research institutes of ICAR conduct research on survey, exploitation, experimentation, management and conservation of various aquatic resources from freshwater, brackishwater and cold water. With the 7th position in the world, India produced 4.79 million tonnes of fish from marine and freshwater resources and over 1 billion dollars were earned through export of fish and fish products during the year 1994-95.
Management of Natural Resources
Research in management of natural resources of soil and water is being carried out at eight central research institutes, two project directorates, three national research centres and 15 all-India co-ordinated research projects. A map of the country delineating 20 agro-ecological regions and 60 sub-regions based on physiography, soil and period of crop growth has been prepared. The soil resources map of different states in 1:250,000 scale have been completed. Sustainable multiple cropping systems have been developed for different agro-climatic zones. Various pulse and oilseed combinations have been recommended as rainfed inter crops to provide higher returns per unit area. Improved methods of water-harvesting and watershed management, reclamation of saline, alkaline and acidic soils, agro-forestry stabilization of sand dunes and integrated nutrient management with increasing use of bio-fertilizers are some of the achievements of the research on resource management.
Activities relating to agricultural engineering are carried out at six institutes, 10 all-India Co-ordinated Projects and in a number of ad-hoc projects located nation-wide. Research in post-harvest technology of cotton, jute and lac are being conducted at three institutes. India is the largest producer of 4-wheel tractors with more than 200,000 tractors being sold to farmers every year and more than 1.7 million tractors are being used in cultivation. About 700,000 irrigation pumps (electric motor and diesel engine driven) are being introduced annually with an estimated current population of 17 million units. In addition, nearly 73 million drought animals provide animal power equivalent to 18,250 MW and cultivate about 55% of the total cropped area. Seed-cum-fertilizer drills, transplanters, weeders, pumps, micro-irrigation equipment, sprayers, threshers and harvesters are becoming popular. More than 35 improved implements developed by Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering and various state agricultural universities have been released by the National Implement Review and Release Committee. Improved Lac technology is generating income for about 4 million, mostly tribal cultivators. Every year about 20,000 tonnes of lac is produced. Nearly 75% of this natural resin is exported to earn about Rs 880 million in foreign exchange. |
