Lok Sabha Question No. 2689 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-15
Subject: Research and Development Work in Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: C.R. CHAUDHARY, SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, R. GOPALAKRISHNAN, A.T. (NANA) PATIL, SANTOSH AHLAWAT, C. MAHENDRAN, MIDHUN REDDY, OM PRAKASH YADAV, J. JAYASINGH THIYAGARAJ NATTERJEE

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2689

TO BE ANSWERED ON 15/12/2015

## RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WORK IN AGRICULTURE

2689.  SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY:

SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

SHRI R. GOPALAKRISHNAN:

SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL:

SHRIMATI SANTOSH AHLAWAT:

SHRI C. MAHENDRAN:

SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY:

SHRI OM PRAKASH YADAV:

SHRI J.J.T. NATTERJEE:

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

- (a) the details of the research work undertaken by various Research Institutes/organizations  in  the  agriculture  sector  during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current year;
- (b) whether the Government has identified priorities for agricultural research needed for fast pacing the farm growth, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) proposes to re-orient its research and development works in agriculture and to bridge critical gaps during the last 12th Five Year Plan period;
- (d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to bring excellence in such research work;
- (e) whether  there  is  a  need  to  revise  the  course  curriculum  of  agricultural  education  to make it more relevant and farmer friendly, if so, the details thereof along with the criteria fixed by the Government for such revision; and
- (f) whether there is shortage of agricultural scientists in research work and a large number of posts of agricultural scientists are lying vacant for several years, if so, the steps taken by the Government to fill up these vacant posts?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f'k vkSj d`'kd dY;k.k ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h

(DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

……..2/-

(a) The research under the auspices of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is being undertaken through 100 Plan schemes  comprising Research Institutes, Project Directorates, National Research Centres, Research Complexes and Bureaus in various States during the last three years and the current year.  ICAR research institutes undertake the basic and strategic  research  programmes related to crop/animal/vegetables/fruit/fish improvement and  development  of  production  and  protection  technologies  to  form  a  base  for  applied research. The research programmes have given special emphasis on the development of new crop  varieties/hybrids  with  improved  quality  and  tolerance/resistance  to  biotic  and  abiotic stresses  and  making  crops  and  livestock  species  able  to  withstand  the  weather  extremities. Targeted  integration  of  economically  important  genes  through  structural  and  functional genomics/molecular breeding has also been focused during the 12 th five  year  plan  and  this activity is being further strengthened.  The information so developed is used by respective All India  Coordinated  Research  Projects  (AICRPs)  and  All  India  Network  Projects  (AINPs) located in different state agricultural universities, to develop location-specific varieties/breeds and  technologies  as per  the  agro-ecological  needs  for  enhancing  the  production  and productivity. More recently, special focus has been given towards development of technologies  for  'more  crop  per  drop',  soil  health,  promote  mechanization  of  small  farms, improve farmers' income, usher protein revolution through enhancing pulse production and blue  revolution,  make  India  self-reliant  in  edible  oils,  meet  information  needs  of  farmers through community radio and ensure effective transfer of technologies through Lab-to-Land programme. India joined the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to safeguard global food security for the coming generations. In cutting edge science, the genetic blue print of bread wheat genome was unveiled in collaboration with the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium. Major breakthroughs were also achieved in the area of buffalo cloning. Most of these areas are being further strengthened.

(b) Yes,  Madam.  The  ICAR  has  identified  priorities  and  accordingly  embarked  upon several new programmes and initiatives that aim at improving the efficiency and impact of research  by  enhanced  application  of  frontier  sciences  as  space  science,  remote  sensing, biotechnology  and  information  and  communication  technology.  State  of  the  art  research facilities have been created in several institutes and the research infrastructure is continuously strengthened.      Existing  institutes  are  being  strengthened  and  new  research  institutes/ Universities being established in states/regions where such strengthening was required. In this direction  new  IARI like institutes  have  been  established  in  Jharkhand  and  Assam  and  new Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Universities  have  been  established  in  Andhra  Pradesh  and Telangana respectively. Establishment of National Gene Bank, High Security Animal Disease Laboratory, National Bureau on Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, National Institute on  Abiotic  Stress  Management  and  launching  of  National  Initiative  on  Climate  Resilient Agriculture,  National  Fund  for  Basic,  Strategic  and  Frontier  Application  Research  in Agriculture (NFBSFARA) have enabled bringing excellence to agricultural research.

(c) & (d): Yes  Madam.  In  order  to  bridge  the  critical  gaps  following  new  projects  were  also initiated  during the XII Plan:-

……..3/-

With a view to provide critical mass and the resources necessary for conducting more meaningful  research,  the  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  has  recently  introduced Agri-Research  Consortia  Platforms  (Agri-CRP)  to  fortify  and  encourage  the  innovative research  approach  to  take  up  national  problems  that  have  been  perceived  over  time.  The consortia mode  would  enable  multiple stakeholder-ships and handholding  of various institutions  and  laboratories  that  were  working in the same field in  an isolated  manner and required  a  coherent  and  coordinated  approach.    Consortia  Research  Platforms  have  been initiated  in the 16 key areas which are, Agro- biodiversity Management, Hybrids, Molecular Breeding, Biofortification, Borers, Nanotechnology, Phyto-chemicals & High Value Compounds, Conservation Agriculture, Water, Farm Mechanisation, Energy in Agriculture, Health Foods, Secondary Agriculture, Natural Fibre, Diagnostics & Vaccines and Genomics.

In addition, following key programmes have also been initiated:-

-  Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA)-conceptualized for mentoring/handholding rural youth in villages by providing technical and financial support to upscale/commercialize promising technologies and grass root innovations.
-  Agriculture and Technology Forecast Centre (ATFC)-to identify and develop technological needs for precision and forecasting in various domains of agriculture.
-  Farmers  FIRST-an  initiative  to  move  beyond  the  production  and  productivity  and  to privilege  the  complex,  diverse  &  risk  prone  realities  of  majority  of  the  farmers  through enhancing farmers-scientists contact with multi stake holders-participation.
-  Centre  for  Agricultural  Bioinformatics  (CABin)-integrates  a  number  of  organizations  to provide  computational  framework  and  support  to  carry  out  biotechnological  research. Extra  Mural  Funds-  to  fund  short-term  result  oriented  time-bound  projects  to  address critical gaps of research.
-  A  major  initiative  has  also  been  taken  to  strengthen  and  KVKs  during  12 th Plan  with budgetary  outlay  of  Rs  3900  crores.  For  more  effective  coordination  of  the  transfer  of agricultural technologies, the number of Zonal Project Directorates has been increased to 11  from  earlier  8  and  their  status  has  also  been  upgraded  as  Agriculture  Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs).

These initiatives  would provide an opportunity  to enhance higher  plane of research capability and enhanced sharpness for solving critical issues of agriculture.

(e) The curriculum of Agriculture education is revised at regular intervals through Deans Committees to make it more relevant and farmers friendly with reference to the relevant key areas.  Important  issues  addressed  include;  defining  UG  &  PG  degree  for  general  market needs  and  for  specialized  jobs  and  uniformity,  restructuring  UG  practical  for  increased practical  and  practice  contents,  central  assistance  for  strengthening  Higher  Agricultural Education, guidelines for assessing the training needs and performance of teaching faculty, reforms in Governance in SAUs and developing a model DPR for establishment of Colleges.

In addition, Student READY programme encompassing skill development, experiential  learning,  Rural  awareness  and  in-plant  training  has  been  developed  as  a component of UG course curriculum.

……..4/-

(f) No Madam, the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) is a vast network with ICAR  institutes,  State  Agricultural  Universities  (SAUs)/  Central  Agricultural  Universities (CAUs)/Krishi  Vigyan  Kendras  (KVKs)  spread  across  the  country  which  meets  the requirement of human resources engagement in the field of agricultural research/education/extension. The responsibility of filling up the vacant positions pertaining to different SAUs vests with them and they work under the respective State Government. So far  as  ICAR  is  concerned,  the  Agricultural  Scientists  Recruitment  Board  (ASRB)  an independent  recruitment  agency  is  responsible  for  filling  up  of  scientific  positions  both through  the  process  of  direct  recruitment  under  Agricultural  Research  Service  (ARS) examination and lateral entry for senior scientific positions.

Recruitment of ICAR Scientists is a continuous process. All the possible steps are being taken to fill vacant positions for agricultural scientist on priority basis through ASRB. During the last 18 months more than 1000 different scientific posts of different levels have been filled up/advertised for recruitment. Out of overall scientific cadre sanctioned strength of 6313 in the ICAR less than 10% of posts are vacant.

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