New Delhi, Aug 27: The Honorable Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India launched the integration of ICAR-Seed Portal of Indian Horticultural Research Institute, Bangalore with YONO Krishi of State Bank of India on 26.08.2020 at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, which will be a great benefit to the consumers.
The Honorable Minister emphasized that the development of new technologies is important and the benefits of these should reach the farmers so that their income can be doubled and they can get quality inputs without any middlemen. He also mentioned that digitization has to be done in all areas, which is a dream of Hon'ble Prime Minister, so that there will be transparency at all areas. He further said that State Bank of India is playing a very important role in implementing various schemes of Government of India, like Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana etc. and also providing monetary benifits to the farmers during pandemic Covid-19. He said that the integration of Seed Portal with Yono Krishi will help farmers in increasing their produce and income. He hoped that more and more farmers would join this portal and would be benefited by the certified seeds of the institute. He appreciated the staff of SBI and Indian Institute of Horticultural Research for their effort for this integration and hoped that it would benefit more and more farming communities.
The program was presided over by Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary, DARE and Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. He said that the integration of Yono Agriculture with Seed Portal is a good initiative, which will help farmers to get quality seeds on time at their residence itself.
The guest of honour of the function, Mr. Rajneesh Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India, said that digitization has a major role to play in doubling the income of farmers and for this SBI Yono Krishi is making a major contribution for helping farmers. He explained the features of Yono Krishi for the benefit of farmers in various ways. He hoped that the integration of Yono Krishi with Seed Portal would help farmers in ensuring the availability of seeds at residence itself.
Dr. M.R. Dinesh, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru welcomed the Hon’ble Minister and other dignitaries and said that the institute made people aware of the development of disease-free quality seeds of the varieties of different horticultural crops. He said that the institute is producing 20 tonnes of seeds every year and the target is to increase it to 50 tonnes in the coming years.
Dr. A.K. Singh, DDG (Horticultural Sciences),ICAR, New Delhi proposed vote of thanks.