State Variety Release Committee releases New Crop Varieties of ICAR-NOFRI for Sikkim

8th September, 2020, Sikkim

The State Variety Release Committee (SVRC), Government of Sikkim released 9 Crop Varieties developed by the ICAR-National Organic Farming Research Institute, Sikkim tailored for the organic conditions today.

Shri R.C. Bhutia, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of Sikkim & Chairman, SVRC emphasized that the high yielding varieties released will ensure high crop productivity in farmer’s field with the objective of doubling the farmers’ income. He also stressed on the need for strengthening the organic seed production chain in the state for self-sufficiency.

Shri Padam Subba, Principal Director, Department of Horticulture, Government of Sikkim applauded the ICAR-NOFRI initiative for developing the varieties for organic conditions of the state. He also suggested genetic improvement of local cultivars of Sikkim to bring local crop varieties in the seed chain.

Shri Rajen Thapa, Additional Director (Field Crops), Department of Agriculture, Government of Sikkim accentuated that the new varieties will solve the dependency on external sources for the procurement of seeds.

Dr. R.K. Avasthe, Joint Director, ICAR-NOFRI, Sikkim briefed about the continuous efforts made by the team of scientists at ICAR-NOFRI for developing the varieties. He also stressed that the varieties will not only be useful for organic farming community of the state, but can also be adopted by the farmers of the other hilly states as well.

A total of 9 varieties including varieties of maize (3), rice (4), Rajmash (1) and Soybean (1) were identified and released by the SVRC, Government of Sikkim.

The senior officials of Department of Agriculture, Government of Sikkim along with the Progressive Farmers from Sikkim and Scientists of ICAR-NOFRI were also present during the meeting.

(Source: ICAR-National Organic Farming Research Institute, Gangtok, Sikkim)