The BJP and TMC’s fierce political rivalry notwithstanding, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday praised the farm sector growth in Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal.
Tomar said that the farm sector in West Bengal has shown appreciable growth despite adversities created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Tomar said that during the last three years (2019-2021), a total of 84 field crops varieties were developed and released for West Bengal. “These include 31 varieties of cereals; 23 of oilseeds; 14 of pulses; 9 of fiber; 4 of forages and 3 of sugarcane. The productivity of rice, maize, foodgrains and pulses registered an increase of 1.2 per cent, 8.1 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 19.34 per cent between the period 2018-19 and 2020-21,” Tomar said.
The Minister informed the House that agricultural research institutes/ centres in West Bengal have undertaken research for the development in various areas like field crops, disease diagnosis and development of vaccines for animals, poultry and fisheries sectors, development of ergonomically improved tools and equipment and women-friendly tools and machineries, etc.
"As a result of the initiatives taken by the Central and State Government and the Agricultural Research Institutes, agriculture sector of the State of West Bengal has shown appreciable growth despite adversities created by COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has established four research institutes and nine regional research stations in West Bengal.