Lok Sabha Question No. 2375 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-10
Subject: Development of Climate Resistant Crop Varieties
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Putta Mahesh Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2375

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  DECEMBER, 2024

## DEVELOPMENT OF CLIMATE RESISTANT CROP VARIETIES

## 2375.  SHRI PUTTA MAHESH KUMAR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has initiated/conducted/carried out any research/study/survey into the development of climate resistant crop varieties;
- (b) if so, the details regarding the crop varieties that have been developed during the last five years, especially the major crops;
- (c) the  details  of  total  amount  of  funding  allocated  and  utilised  for  the  purposes  of research, development and production of such crop varieties during the last five years;
- (d) the details of the distribution of seed/seedlings of such crops in the country, Statewise, especially to Andhra Pradesh during the last five years;
- (e) whether the Government sells such seeds/seedlings in a subsidised manner for all farmers, if so, the details thereof especially in Andhra Pradesh; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  promotional  activities  to  raise awareness of climate resistant crop varieties, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k jkT; ea=h (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY)

(a) & (b): National Agricultural Research System (NARS) under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) including the State and Central Agricultural Universities (SAU/CAU),  and ICAR  Institutes, are continuously  engaged in the research for development of high yielding and biotic/ abiotic stress resistant region-specific field crop varieties  and  as  a  result,  a total  of 2005 varieties  have  been  released  during  the last five years (2019-20 to 2023-24) and the current year. Out of these 2005 varieties, 1840 field crop varieties are of climate resilient.

These 1840 climate resilient have 329 varieties with resilience for extreme abiotic stresses  including  drought/moisture  stress/  water  stress  tolerance  (183),  flood/  water submergence/ water logging tolerance (49), salinity/ alkalinity/ sodic soils tolerance (51), heat stress/ high temperature tolerance (33), cold/ frost/ winter chilling tolerance (13) and have been developed using the precision phenotyping tools.

(c): Since 2019-20 to 2023-24; total budget of Rs . 3254.01 crores has been utilized for development of high yielding, climate resilient and improved quality varieties; and improved production  and  protection  technologies.  Rs.  930.22  crores  have  been  allocated  for  the current financial year.

(d) & (e): During the last five years (2019-20 to 2023-24), 542891.9 q breeder seed of more than 2000 varieties of 60 field crops have been produced as against an indent of 372147.4 q and supplied to various public and private seed producing agencies for its faster dissemination through downstream multiplication to foundation and certified seed which include more than 80% seed of climate resilient varieties including resistance/ tolerance to various biotic and/or abiotic stresses.

Further, total of 2122.86 lakh q of certified/ quality seed distribution (including climate resilient crop varieties) across the country has been done during the last five years for the benefit of farming community.

In  the  state  of  Andhra  Pradesh,  ANGRAU,  Guntur  is  involved  in  production  of breeder and quality seed under All India Coordinated Research Project on Seed (Crops). During  the  last  five  years,  1,930.4  quintals  of  breeder  seeds  of  climate  resistant  crop varieties has been produced against the indent of 786.6 quintals in Andhra Pradesh.

Under the Seed Village programme, an assistance of 50% for distribution of cereals and  60%  for  distribution  of  pulses,  oilseeds  and  green  manure  crops  including  climate resistant crops' varieties is available for farmers of the country including Andhra Pradesh.

(f): Government conducts the large-scale demonstrations of climate resilient varieties through Front Line Demonstrations conducted by All India Coordinated Research Projects; Cluster Front Line Demonstrations by the Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs); Mini Kits by the Department of Agriculture of different states.

The flagship network project on 'National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)' launched during 2011, also focusses on climate resilient technological innovations including climate resilient varieties. Climate Resilient Village (CRV) have been developed under this project and location specific Climate Resilient Technologies (CRTs) have been demonstrated in 446 villages covering 2,13,421 households and 2,35,874 ha area and Village climate risk management committees (VCRMC), custom hiring centers, seed and fodder production systems and community nurseries enabled wider adoption of climate resilient  technologies.  In  addition,  the  government  has  initiated  several  schemes  under National  Mission  on  Sustainable Agriculture  (NMSA)  to  deal  with  the  adverse  climate situations in the agriculture sector.

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