N E W S B Y T E S
Complex in New Delhi . The Chief Guest at the inaugural session on 16th July was Narendra Singh Tomar , Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Parshottam Rupala , Union Minister of Fisheries , Animal Husbandry and Dairying who joined virtually .
A technology exhibition and industry interface was the major attraction during the celebrations . The novel technologies developed by the different ICAR institutes will be showcased in the exhibition for the benefit of the stakeholders to increase agricultural production , quality , and income of the farmer . In order to encourage innovations in agriculture , forty selected technologies were also released , and the developers get recognition .
Finger millet genome breakthrough to help safeguard food security
ICRISAT , in collaboration with a team of researchers led by the University of Georgia , USA , has published a pioneering study on the finger millet genome offering new insights for breeders and hope for millions in the drylands . The study opens exciting possibilities for developing new finger millet varieties through targeted breeding techniques to enhance nutritional value , yield , and resilience to various challenges .
The findings were recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on June 21 , 2023 .
Finger millet , a crucial crop for ensuring food security , is cultivated extensively in Eastern Africa , India , and Nepal . In recent years , there has been a renewed interest in finger millet due to its remarkable ability to withstand challenging climate conditions and the recognition of its highly nutritious grain .
Geospatial solutions to transform Indian agriculture ecosystem
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare signed a MOU with Pixxel Space India with an aim to develop various geospatial solutions on pro bono basis for the Indian Agriculture Ecosystem using Pixxel ’ s hyperspectral dataset . The project focuses on leveraging sample hyperspectral data from Pixxel ’ s path finder satellites to develop analytics models focused on crop mapping , crop stage discrimination , crop health
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BioVoiceNews | August 2023