Govt asks IIT-Kharagpur to probe claims of lower turn-out ratio of rice from new hybrids

The Centre has entrusted IIT-Kharagpur to conduct a study into claims of a lower turn-out ratio of rice from certain new hybrid varieties of paddy grown in Punjab, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

To a question on paddy procurement in Punjab on Tuesday, Ramnath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said in a written statement that the Government procured 169 lakh tonnes (lt) of paddy at minimum support price (MSP) in the State during the current kharif marketing season (KMS) 2024-25.

The period of paddy procurement for KMS 2024-25 in Punjab commenced on October 1 and continued till November 30. A quantity of 169 lt of paddy had been procured at MSP by the State government procuring agencies and Food Corporation of India (FCI) through arhatiyas (commission agents) against the reported arrival of 171 lt in the mandis till November 27.

In addition to 1823 regular notified mandis, 951 public places-cum-temporary yards and 475 rice-mills-cum-temporary yards have been made operational by the State government for paddy procurement at MSP, he said. Approximately, 4800 millers have already been registered and have been allocated paddy by the State government agencies for its storage under joint custody and milling.

New crop varieties

Replying to a question on the time by which new crop varieties developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) will be made available to farmers for cultivation, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said after release and notification of a variety, breeder seed is produced by the developing organizations as per the indents received from various public and private sector seed-producing agencies, which is supplied to these agencies for downstream multiplication of foundation and certified seeds in subsequent seasons. This process takes about three years, and the department tries its best to take their seeds to farmers field in minimum time after release, he said.

National Agricultural Research System (NARS), including ICAR Institutes and State / Central Agricultural Universities under the aegis of ICAR, has developed 524 new varieties / hybrids of field crops and 167 of horticultural crops.

He said that focus was given on adaptation to climate change and improved nutrition quality traits while developing these varieties. As a result, 455 varieties have tolerance / resistance to one or more biotic and / or abiotic stresses. Amongst them, 92 varieties have been bred for extreme resilience against abiotic stresses (rain-fed, drought, flood, water logging, terminal heat, low temperature, salinity, low phosphorus). He said 32 varieties are bio-fortified with improved nutritional qualities.

Organic fertilizers

To a separate question on the domestic production of organic fertilizers, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the production of organic fertilizers was 449.50 lt in 2021-22, 37.72 lt in 2022-23, and 126.60 lt in 2023-24. India’s organic fertilizer production was at 38.36 lt till October of 2024-25, he said.

Coffee production

To a question on coffee production, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, said the coffee production was 3,60,500 tonnes for 2023-24. It is estimated to be 3,63,300 tonnes for 2024-25.

He said Coffee Board is implementing the Integrated Coffee Development Project (ICDP) scheme for the promotion and development of the coffee sector in the country. The activities carried out under the scheme interalia include re-plantation, quality upgradation, water augmentation, area expansion and consolidation for increasing production, productivity and quality of coffee produced in the country. Under this scheme, coffee board also promotes Indian coffee in international markets by participating in international events and provides support for increasing high value and value-added coffee exports, he said.

Rubber database

To a separate question on the centralised database for rubber plantations, Goyal said Rubber Board has engaged a service provider for mapping rubber area in India and is also developing a traceability system for rubber and rubber products exported from India. A centralized database and traceability system will help in improving transparency and marketability of the product in various markets, including European Union, he said.