ICAR, ICRISAT - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: ICAR

Explanation:
The 89th Foundation Day Celebration of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Annual Award distribution function was held on 16th July, 2017.

Since 1951 foodgrain production in the country has increased five times, fish production 14.3, milk production 9.6 and egg production 47.5 times.

In the Horticulture Sector, there has been a threefold increase in fruits and vegetable production as compared to1991-92.

This type of development has a direct effect on the nation's food and nutritional security. The scientists have also played a key role in furthering excellence in higher education.

At the event, 122 awards were presented for excellence in 19 various categories. It includes 3 institutes; 2 AICRPs; 12 Krishi Vigyan Kendras; 19 farmers and 80 scientists, including 30 women.

The ICAR is the premier organisation that had started Green Revolution in the country and today, the country has not only come out of a food deficit situation but also has become self-sufficient in foodgrains and now it has surplus foodgrains.

The contribution of agriculture and allied sectors to Gross Value Added (previously known as GDP) is 18%.

There has been a record production of about 274 million tonnes of foodgrains in the country and it has been possible due to the availability of technologies, quality seeds and related services being made available to the farmers.

This achievement has been possible due to the contribution of institutions of ICAR and State Agricultural Universities and hard work of farmers.

While emphasising the importance of agriculture sector, the Agriculture Minister said the government has taken several steps for sustainable development of agriculture.

Several measures have been proposed for the farmers’ welfare and improvement in agriculture such as bringing 2.85 million hectares under irrigated area by 2012-2018; providing assistance of Rs.2,87,000 crore (42.1 billion US dollars) to the village panchayats and municipalities and to provide electricity to all the villages.

Soil Health Card Scheme and Organic Farming Scheme ‘Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana’ have been initiated to improve soil fertility on a sustainable basis.

Other initiatives include improvement of irrigation through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sinchai Yojana; increasing the effectiveness of water under Per Drop More Crop; and to increase the income of farmers, e-NAM has been started.

For the growth of agriculture and to cover the risks of farmers from climate adversities for agricultural development, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has received a widespread approval as a major landmark policy.

Government Soil Health Card Scheme has been made successful by the institutions of ICAR, Agricultural Universities and various development departments.

ANSWER: Farm

Explanation:
The agriculture ministry on 20th Dec 2016 launched an ICAR data centre -connecting 274 specialised institutions and universities -which will act as an information hub for the farm sector and eventually link the rural population with high speed internet network.

The centre will cater to research institutions by providing consultancy , project management, training and other value-added services.

This data centre of ICAR will play an important role in promoting the `Digital India Campaign' in the agriculture sector.

The campaign aims at providing electronic services while reducing the requirements of paper.

Traders of farm produce have recently questioned the wheat production estimate of 93.55 million tonnes for 2015-16 crop year, saying the actual output was around 86 million tonnes.

A mobile app for `Krishi Vigyan Kendra' was also launched.

ANSWER: Badri

Explanation:
The awardees constituted the following:

• Dr P.S. Bhandari, Chief Veterinary Officer, Department of Animal Husbandry, Champawat, Uttarakhand was honoured for registration of Badri cattle of Uttarakhand;
• Dr S. Jeyakumar, Senior Scientist along with 7 others form ICAR-CIARI, Port Blair was awarded for Teressa goat of Andaman & Nicobar Islands;
• Dr T.J. Harikrishnan and Dr T. Ravimurugan were awarded for Kodi Adu goat and Chevaadu sheep of Tamil Nadu respectively;
• Dr Susanta Kumar Dash, Professor, OUAT, Bhubaneswar for Kendrapada sheep of Odisha
• Dr (Ms) M. Catherine Rutsa, Assistant Professor, Nagaland University for Tenyi Vo pig of Nagaland.
• Dr S. Jeyakumar, Senior Scientist along with 8 others were awarded for Nicobari pig of A&N Islands.
• Dr Galib Uz Zaman and Dr Subimal Laskar, Professor, AAU, Khanapara for Doom pig of Assam
• Dr Th. Ranadhir Singh from CAU Imphal, Dr P.K. Vij and Dr M.S. Tantia from ICAR-NBAGR Karnal for Kaunayen chicken of Manipur
• There was approved registration of nine new breeds of livestock and poultry.
• This includes one breed of cattle, two breeds each of goat and sheep, three breeds of pig, and one breed of chicken.
• After including these newly registered breeds, total number of indigenous breeds now in the country is 160, which include 40 for cattle, 13 for buffalo, 26 for goat, 42 for sheep, 6 for horses & ponies, 9 for camel, 6 for pig, 1 for donkey and 17 for chicken.

• Badri cattle: These are indigenous cattle available in hilly areas of Uttarakhand. Badri cattle are small in size having long legs and varied body colours. Estimated population is approximately 16 lakhs.
• Teressa Goat: It is an indigenous goat breed maintained by Nicobari tribal farmers of Nicobar group of islands.
• Kodi Adu Goat: Kodi Adu goats are native to Thoothukudi & Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu. Estimated population is about 1,58,200.
• Kendrapada sheep: Breeding tract of Kendrapada sheep comprises of six coastal districts of Odisha viz. Kendrapada, Jagatsingpur, Cuttack, Puri, Jajpur and Bhadrak . These sheep are mostly brown in colour. Estimated population is about 1,23,000.
• Tenyi Vo pig: These are indigenous pigs reared in Nagaland mainly for pork production. Approximate population is about 60,000-70,000.
• Nicobari pig: Nicobari pigs are indigenous pigs of Nicobar Islands and are reared by Nicobari tribes since ancient times. Estimated population is 35,000.
• Doom pig: Doom pigs are distributed in Dhubri, Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar districts of Assam state. Estimated population is about 3,000.
• Kaunayen chicken: Its breeding tract consists of Thoubal, Imphal West, Imphal East and Bishnupur districts in the valley region. Some birds are also available in hill region consisting of Chandel, Churachandpur, Senapati, Ukhrul, Tamenglong districts.Estimated population is approximately 60,000-80,000.

ANSWER: NBeG47

Explanation:
ICRISAT or International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics has announced the release of the first machine harvestable chickpea variety NBeG47 in AP. Normal process of harvesting 2.25 tonnes of chickpea takes a total of 3 days and will be harvested in 75 minutes by standard machinery. This is possible through a new taller chickpea variety suitable for machine harvest. This chickpea was funded by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation under National Food Security Mission of Union Ministry of Agriculture.

ANSWER: Finger Millet

Explanation:
Finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], which figured among the six small millets in research portfolio of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), has now been formally announced as the mandate crop. Finger millet provides opportunities for small holders, and ICRISAT gene bank has nearly 6000 finger millet germ plasm accessions from 24 nations. This crop is an integral part of the ICRISAT portfolio. Following its declaration as a mandate crop, it has led consumers to improved nutrition and offers much economic opportunity which is why it has been given prominence. Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement of Sorghum and Millets in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (HOPE) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is showing encouraging results in improving productivity of finger millet and household incomes in East Africa. In Malawi, a three finger millet variety will resurrect crops that disappeared from the southern region of the nation. Finger millet variety U15 is the most preferred for rapid maturity and grain colour while IE 3779 is preferred because of disease resistance. Other mandate crops of ICRISAT include sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeon-pea and groundnut.