Currently the total
requirement of various
bio-fertilizers for seed,
root treatment and soil is
estimated to be about
0.426 million ton, based
on net cultivated area.
But with increasing
interest in the usage of
bio-fertilizers, the
government is promoting
it through various schemes of National Mission for Sustainable
Agriculture (NMSA), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY),
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and National Mission on Oilseeds
and Oil Palm (NMOOP), National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
As per the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Mohanbhai Kundariya
who spoke on the subject in the Parliament on April 26, "The ICAR
under Network project on Organic Farming is undertaking research to
develop location specific organic farming package of practices for crops
and cropping systems. Presently, the project is being implemented in 20
centres located in state covering 16 States. Organic farming package of
practices for 18 crops/cropping systems have been developed."
CEERI DEVELOPS NEW SYSTEMS FOR DETECTION
OF MILK ADULTERATION
The Union Minister for
Science & Technology and
Vice President, Council for
Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR), Dr Harsh
Vardhan on February 20,
2016, dedicated the systems
for detection of adulteration
and analysis of milk. He
complimented the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute
(CSIR-CEERI), Pilani for developing this platform technology, ‘KsheerScanner’, which instantaneously detects the above-identified adulterants
in milk. It is a low- cost portable system with user-friendly features. It
enables detection of contaminants in just 40-45 seconds at the per
sample cost of less than 50 paise. The minimum detection levels of
major contaminants are: Urea: 1 gm/l; salt: 2 gm/l; detergent: 2 gm/l;
soap: 1%; and soda: 1 gm/l.
The Minister said that he will soon be reaching out to the Union Health
Minister and the Health Ministers of all state governments to adopt and
deploy this technology platform to address the problem of milk
adulteration in the country. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India (FSSAI) will also be asked to bring in the required regulatory
intervention so as to ensure the delivery of quality milk, he added.
ENSURING FOOD SECURITY: INDIA & UK SIGN
COOPERATION AGREEMENT ON CROP SCIENCE
The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology,
and a consortium of top UK research institutions have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on February 24, 2016 for the
establishment of a joint India-UK collaboration programme in crop
science at Prithvi Bhawan,
Ministry of Earth Sciences,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
The agreement foresees
joint projects focusing on
the fundamental science
underpinning yield
enhancement, disease
resistance and drought
resistance; research into
crop re-breeding; and the translation of fundamental research into
sustainable agriculture practice. It was signed by Professor K
VijayRaghavan, Secretary, DBT; Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice
Chancellor, Cambridge University and Nafees Meah on behalf of the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) of UK.
It was also signed by representatives from the National Institute for
Agricultural Botany (NIAB), in Cambridge; the John Innes Centre and
the University of East Anglia, in Norwich; and Rothamsted Research.
NDRI, KARNAL