Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, laid the groundwork for a National Seed Corporation (NSC) organic seed farm in Morena today. Once completed, new organic oilseed seeds will be available to Madhya Pradesh farmers. Farmers will be introduced to modern techniques, receive high-yielding seeds, and their socioeconomic status will improve as a result of this farm.
On this occasion, Tomar announced that the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change had made a significant decision to recommend the de-notification of 207 hectares of land in the Chambal National Wildlife Sanctuary. Because this sanctuary area is a revenue land, sand availability will be at the local level, which will increase employment.
According to Tomar, the Central Government has decided to establish a farm in Morena (MP) to produce organic seeds by improving the land in the rugged area. The M.P. Government has given the Union Ministry of Agriculture 885.34 hectares of land in four Morena villages (Gadora, Jakhauna, Rithora Khurd, and Gorakha). This land is in Chambal’s rugged area, and farming was impossible due to the area’s ravines. Because the NSC is committed to providing quality seeds to farmers and is currently producing 15 lakh quintals of quality certified seeds and making them available to farmers, the Agriculture Ministry has entrusted the responsibility of developing a farm in Morena for the production of organic seeds to the NSC.
The production of seeds in Morena’s Ravines will improve the land and make it fertile. Local farmers will be able to improve the land in their fields and produce seeds using the most recent scientific methods, resulting in high economic benefits from low farming costs.
Farmers will learn the most recent seed production techniques here. Local and state farmers will be taught the most up-to-date seed production techniques by NSC experts. Land reforms and seed production on the farm will provide employment for Morena residents. Farmers will benefit from Morena Farm’s latest and genetically and physically pure organic oilseed seeds, which will not only improve the socioeconomic status of the state’s farmers, but will also provide nutritional security to the farmers.
Tomar stated that India’s international standing has improved as a result of all-around efforts in the agricultural sector under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that our country is working in the spirit of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam. The PM’s slogan is “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan,” and Morena’s seed farm will use science and research to help farmers progress. Seed is the foundation and primary input of agriculture.
According to Tomar, the availability of good agricultural seeds benefits the agri-ecosystem and the economy as a whole, in addition to increasing production and productivity and resulting in higher income for farmers. In addition to ensuring seed availability to states, the central government assists in seed distribution through various schemes.
From 2014-15, the Union Agriculture Ministry implemented the Seeds and Planting Material sub-mission to increase quality seed production and crop multiplication, ensuring that farmers have access to superior seeds in sufficient quantities. State and public sector seed organisations are strengthening seed quality control through a variety of seed-related activities. 304 varieties have been approved for commercial cultivation in the last eight years.
Due to the de-notification efforts of Union Minister and local MP Tomar, this area will be outside the sanctuary area, resulting in lower prices for sand from here for construction/development works at the local level, as well as new job opportunities. Tomar had written to the Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav, requesting that the de-notification be reversed. The proposal was discussed at the 69th meeting of the National Wildlife Board’s Standing Committee, which was chaired by Minister Yadav, and the committee decided to recommend de-notifying 207.05 hectares of the sanctuary, as follows: Barodia Bindi (9.49 ha in Sabalgarh range of Distt. Sheopur), and 118.66 ha in Barwasin (Range-Dewari, District Morena) and 78.90 ha in Rajghat (Piprai) (Range- Dewari, Jaura, District-Morena). With this de-notification, illegal sand mining will be curbed. More than 4 lakh people rely directly on the protected area’s various products. At the local level, sand mining will result in an increase in employment.
Madhya Pradesh Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Bharat Singh Kushwaha and Andal Singh Kansana, Raghuraj Kansana, Girraj Dandotia, Subedar Singh Sikarwar, and other public representatives, district officials, farmers, and workers were present at the seed farm’s foundation stone laying ceremony. Initially, the welcome address was delivered by Ashwini Kumar, MD of NSC and Joint Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry. Tomar distributed seeds to farmers on the occasion.
First published on: 27 Sep 2022, 08:22 IST