84th Foundation Day of ICAR and ICAR Award Ceremony

Dr Kalam & Harish Rawat at ICAR Award Ceremony. Photo Joginder Dogra

Dr. Kalam suggested research missions for sustainable growth in agriculture “There is a need to carry out research on how the small and marginal farmers can come together through the intervention of KVK and form rural cooperatives in their areas so that integrated farming including agro-processing can be carried out which will lead to value added products and enhance the revenue earning ability of bottom of the pyramid farmers”, said Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India here today.

He was delivering Foundation Day Lecture on 84th Foundation Day of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and ICAR Award Ceremony. While congratulating ICAR for transforming India into a self sufficient nation in foodgrains, he suggested research missions for ICAR (2012-2030) for accelerating the growth and increase the productivity to achieve 10% growth rate in agriculture. Dr. Kalam suggested eight research missions which include development of farm practices for small and marginal farmers, analyzing and mapping of natural resources and documentation of all the agricultural technologies. ICAR can develop a self-coordinating mechanism for achieving this goal as an organizational development mission, he added.