Farmers will help country emerge from coronavirus-induced crisis: IIWBR Director

Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research director Gyanendra Pratap said that he believes that the farmers will help the country revive from the coronavirus-induced economic crisis. On the country’s wheat production for the financial year 2019-2020, Pratap appeared hopeful that the total production would be around 108 million tonnes.

Haryana:At a time when most sectors of the country’s economy are witnessing a slump due to the coronavirus outbreak, agriculture has been fairly better, with wheat production estimated to be around a record 107.20 million tonnes (MMT) for 2010-20. It is in this context that the Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) in Haryana believes that the farmers will help the country revive from the coronavirus-induced economic crisis.

Speaking exclusively to ETV Bharat, Gyanendra Pratap, Director, ICAR- IIWBR, the only such research centre in the country, said, “Agriculture is the only sector in the country which is showing good growth, while other sectors have reported a downward trend due to coronavirus outbreak. I believe our farmers will play a great role in helping the country emerge from the coronavirus-induced crisis without much harm.”

Elaborating on the different kinds of high yielding variety of wheat seeds developed by the Institute and their role in increasing the country’s wheat production, Pratap said, “There are four-five kinds of wheat seeds developed by us that have made a huge contribution this year, including HD 3086, DBW 187 and DBW 222. More than half of the wheat cultivated in the country belongs to these varieties. They constitute 60 per cent of the country’s wheat production.”

“So far as improving the quality of production is concerned, it is an ongoing process. We keep researching and working on new and improved varieties of seeds which is then cultivated by the farmers,” added the Director.

Pratap further described the production capacity of the three wheat seeds, “India’s average wheat production stands somewhere around 36 quintals per hectare. Seed varieties such as DBW 222, leads to an average production of 82 quintals per hectare, while DBW 187 leads to an average production of 80-85 quintal per hectare, and the genetic potential of HD 3086 is 72 quintal per hectare. We always try to increase crop productivity to help farmers.”

On the country’s wheat production for the financial year 2019-2020, Pratap appeared hopeful that the record would be further broken with a total production of 108 million tonnes.

“Till the third quarter (Q3) of FY20, the country’s wheat production stands at 107.2 million tonnes as per the Agriculture ministry. Figures for fourth and fifth quarters are awaited and I believe it will be more than 108 million tonnes,” said Pratap.