Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released 109 climate-friendly high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of crops and bio-fortified seeds.
The new varieties launched are designed to meet the diverse needs of India's agro-ecological zones, promising higher yields and improved traits. HYVs are genetically tweaked crops that enable higher food production and alleviate the pressure to add more arable land to the vast production systems by stepping up productivity. HYV seeds are resistant to and have a high-yielding potential against insects and diseases. Such seeds are of higher quality and a better choice for growing crops in abundance and in a safer way. The 109 varieties are aimed at enhancing farm productivity and improving farmers' incomes
HYVs from the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, such as Arka Udaya (mango), Arka Kiran (guava) and an Okra hybrid Arka Nikita, which is iodine-rich, are among the varieties unveiled. Arka Vaibhav, which is a variety of tuberose that has double type white flowers and is ideal for the purpose of cut flowers with a yield level of 250,00 to 300,000 spikes per hectare, and Arka Shreeya, a crossandra variety which is large and novel with orange-red colored flowers with resistance to phytophthora wilt, have also been released.
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