Garhwal Post Bureau
New Delhi, 18 Aug: Uttarakhand Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ganesh Joshi participated today in the 97th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Society, held at Pusa, New Delhi, under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Agriculture ministers from various states, agricultural scientists, and departmental officials attended the meeting. Discussions focused on several important issues, including the development of the agricultural sector, farmers’ welfare, and promotion of agricultural research and innovation.
Speaking at the meeting, Ganesh Joshi said that hill agriculture is largely rain-fed and faces challenges such as small and fragmented landholdings, low productivity, and crop damage caused by wildlife. These challenges are contributing to an increase in fallow land and migration from the hills. Therefore, he said, the focus of hill agriculture should shift from merely increasing production to increasing income per family.
Joshi urged Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to initiate special projects through ICAR to develop economically viable cropping systems suited to the different agro-climatic zones of Uttarakhand. He suggested developing diversified and sustainable models incorporating agriculture, horticulture, fruit trees, and livestock farming. Such models, he said, should provide farmers with year-round income and employment opportunities on small landholdings while also encouraging young people to take up agriculture.
The Agriculture Minister also requested the Union Agriculture Minister to facilitate the development of new certified varieties of horse gram (Gahat) through ICAR, as Uttarakhand currently lacks newly certified varieties of the crop. He suggested that the state’s local and traditional Gahat varieties could be used for this purpose. He further called for identifying local pulse and millet varieties that perform well under low rainfall and adverse conditions and developing new climate-resilient varieties based on them.
In view of the growing impact of climate change, Joshi also urged the Union Agriculture Minister to initiate a new project on climate-resilient and sustainable agricultural practices through the Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan (VPKAS), Almora, and Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar.
He said that farmers would be encouraged to adopt climate-resilient farming practices based on the outcomes of the research. This, he added, would help increase farmers’ income and employment opportunities while also contributing to reducing migration from the hill regions.
Joshi said that ensuring the benefits of agricultural research and scientific technologies reach farmers is the need of the hour. He emphasized that cooperation from research institutions is crucial for promoting agriculture and horticulture in a mountainous state like Uttarakhand, in accordance with local climatic and geographical conditions.
He further said that under the able guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, along with the guidance of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, coordinated efforts are continuously being undertaken at the Centre and in the state to increase farmers’ income, make agriculture modern and profitable, and encourage the youth to join the agricultural sector.
