6 varieties of fruits, vegetables dedicated to nation

 New Delhi, February 13

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has dedicated six varieties of fruits and vegetables to the nation.

The six varieties of fruits and vegetables include two varieties of mango 'Pusa Lalima' and 'Pusa Shresth', brinjal variety 'Pusa Vaibhav', palak (spinach) variety 'Pusavilayati palak', cucumber variety 'Pusa Gynoecious Cucumber Hybrid-18' and 'Pusa Alpana' variety of rose.

Tomar dedicated the six varieties of fruits and vegetables to the nation at the function organised to hand over awards and degrees to the 284 students, which includes eight foreign students, of the Postgraduate School of ICAR-Indian Agriculture Research Institute.

The bio-fertilizer 'PUSA Sampoorn' developed by the division of microbiology was also released.

Addressing the gathering, Tomar appealed to all agriculture institutes to focus on producing good farmers. "Institutes are producing very talented teachers and scientists which is commendable. Because of this knowledge and technology remain limited to the institutes only. If institutes produce farmers then they can bring this knowledge to the grassroots level," he said.

He also exhorted the students for entrepreneurship development and appealed for taking up farming as a profession.

He also said that agriculture graduates are also eligible to receive grant support for drone purchases. The Minister advised the new graduates to see this as a huge opportunity in the field of drone technology. IANS