Flagship

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

The growing awareness of health and increased concern of environmental issues have resulted in a higher percentage of public to focus on food quality and security. Affordability of organic farm products has tremendously increased its consumption among consumers in the country. There are about two million farmers across the globe who practice certified organic farming and roughly 80 per cent of these farms are in India (IFOAM, 2013). It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that our country is at the centre of an organic revolution that is set to take the world by storm. Organic farming has become increasingly important in India given the rising cost of production and increased losses of harvest due to climate change and aberrations in rainfall and extreme climatic events like floods and droughts. Consumers are also able and willing to purchase organic agriculture products at higher premium prices as these are free from chemical fertilizers, fungicide, herbicide and pesticides. This has resulted in a greater scope for increased demand for organic agriculture. Apart from this, there has been a significant rise in the demand for organic food across the world due to increased consciousness related to health problems arising with the chemical pesticides and fertilizers contaminated food. Keeping these in focus, there is higher thrust on PKVY to promote organic agriculture. It is basically a scheme of supporting organic farming via cluster approach with Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).

About NICRA:

National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a network project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) launched in February, 2011. The project aims to enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration. The research on adaptation and mitigation covers crops, livestock, fisheries and natural resource management. The project consists of four components viz. Strategic Research, Technology Demonstration, Capacity Building and Sponsored/Competitive Grants.

The project was formally started in KVK, Ratlam in the year 2015-16.

Cluster FLDs (Oilseed and Pulses)

The extension agencies engaged in transfer and application of agricultural technologies on farmer's field should give priority to organize frontline demonstrations (FLDs) on cluster basis for harnessing the productivity potential of oilseed and pulse crops in the country.