New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday dedicated to the nation 35 crop varieties with special traits. Also, he inaugurated the newly constructed campus of the National Institute of Biotic Stress Tolerance Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

PM Modi said, "Farming develops rapidly when it gets protection when it gets a security cover. To provide security to the land of farmers, 11 crores Soil Health Cards were given to them in different phases."

"New diseases and endemics are appearing due to climate change. This is posing a great crisis to the health of humans and livestock, it is also affecting crops. Intensive research on these issues is necessary," he said. 

"Last year, during the fight against Corona, we saw how swarms of locusts attacked several states. By making several efforts, India had stopped the attacks and had saved farmers from suffering huge losses. In the last 6-7 years, Science & Technology is being used as a priority for solutions to the challenges in agriculture. Especially, in the changing season, in line with new situations, our focus is on nutritious seeds, " PM Modi said after dedicating 35 crop varieties with special traits.

35 crops with special traits: 

The crop varieties with special traits have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition. Thirty-five such crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient content have been developed in the year 2021.

These include a drought-tolerant variety of chickpea, wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeon pea, early maturing variety of soybean, disease-resistant varieties of rice and biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean.

These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health. Examples of such varieties include Pusa Double Zero Mustard 33, the first Canola quality hybrid RCH 1 with <2% erucic acid and <30 ppm glucosinolates and a soybean variety free from two anti-nutritional factors namely Kunitz trypsin inhibitor and lipoxygenase. Other varieties with special traits have been developed in soybean, sorghum, and baby corn, among others.