NEW DELHI, October 15 — The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), operating under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, on Thursday officially released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and nutrient-enriched biofortified varieties spanning 61 agricultural and horticultural crops.
The indigenously bred varieties comprise 34 field crop lineages—including climate-smart rice, drought-tolerant millets, high-protein pulses, and pest-resistant oilseeds—alongside 27 horticultural varieties encompassing medicinal herbs, vegetable cultivars, and fruit trees engineered by ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs). Several varieties incorporate elevated zinc and iron biofortification targeting micro-nutrient malnutrition.
ICAR agronomists underlined that the newly released strains withstand heat stress and water deficits while delivering 15 to 25 percent yield premiums over conventional genotypes, directly shielding marginal farmers against erratic monsoonal shifts and supporting the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan).
The institutional heritage of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (established in 1929 following the Royal Commission on Agriculture), the science of biofortification versus transgenic modification, agro-climatic zoning in India (15 broad Planning Commission zones), and nutritional food security parameters are central study components in UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Agriculture & Biotechnology) and State Agricultural Service exams.