N E W S B Y T E S
India ’ s food security demands waterintensive crops , say experts who call for Water Vulnerability Index
DCM Shriram Foundation , supported by DCM Shriram , a leading conglomerate in agriculture , and Sattva Knowledge Institute have
launched the report titled , ‘ Transforming Crop Cultivation :
Advancing Water Efficiency in Indian Agriculture ’ to identify actionable solutions to address the ongoing water crisis in the Indian agriculture sector .
India , with its burgeoning population and limited freshwater resources , faces an imminent water crisis , aggravated by its heavy reliance on water in agriculture . With only 4 % of the world ’ s freshwater sources and 17 % of the global population , the situation demands urgent attention and innovative solutions . Agriculture today accounts for 90 % of the water withdrawals in India , an indication of how water-intensive this sector is . Furthermore , within the agriculture sector alone , irrigation uses 84 % of the country ’ s precious water reserves , followed by domestic and industrial sectors .
First of its kind national speed breeding crop facility launched at NABI , Mohali
Union Minister of Science & Technology , Dr Jitendra Singh recently inaugurated the first-of- its-kind “ National Speed Breeding Crop Facility ” at the premier National Agri- Food Biotechnology Institute ( NABI ) in Mohali .
Speaking on the occasion as chief guest , Dr Singh said , “ this initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’ s priority of doubling the farmer`s Income , ensuring their economic empowerment and promoting Agri-StartUps ”. He said , farmers will now have the opportunity to improve their crop qualitatively as
well as quantitatively .
Union Minister said , “ Biotechnology speedy seeds facility will cater to all the States of India but it will especially be useful for the North Indian States like Punjab , Himachal Pradesh , Haryana and the UT of J & K . Adding further he said , “ this facility will augment transformational changes in crop improvement programmes by accelerating the development of advanced crop varieties that could sustain climate change .”
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BioVoiceNews | May / June 2024