Parliament Question: Promotion of Research and Development in Agriculture Sector

OIH GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2601 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16TH DECEMBER, 2025 PROMOTION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR

2601. SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE:

DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE:

SHRI GYANESHWAR PATIL:

SHRI BHUMARE SANDIPANRAO ASARAM:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृषि और ककसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

(a) the various activities being taken by the Government to promote Research and Development (R&D) in agriculture sector, particularly in climate-smart agriculture and the development of drought-resistant varieties;

(b) the manner in which the agricultural extension services are being strengthened to disseminate the latest agricultural technologies and information to farmers across the country; and

(c) the details thereof, State-wise, particularly city-wise for Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृषि और ककसान कल्याण राज्य मंत्री (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY)

(a): The Government through Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) flagship network project ‘National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)’ conducts research & development activities on the development of climate resilient technologies through its 25 centres located across the country in ICAR institutes, State Agricultural Universities and other leading national institutes. Climate resilient technologies viz., climate 1resilient varieties, intercropping systems, conservation agriculture, crop diversification, agroforestry systems, zero-till sowing, green manuring, integrated farming systems, integrated nutrient and pest management, organic farming, site specific nutrient management, in-situ moisture conservation, protective/supplementary irrigation, micro irrigation methods, animal related technologies including supplementary feed for balanced ration, use of improved fodder crops, animal housing and breeds etc. have been developed.

These technologies have been documented for 27 States and 3 Union Territories.

During, 2014-25 a total of 3236 field crop varieties have been developed by ICAR out of which 2996 varieties are climate resilient, which includes 1455 of Cereals, 397 of Oilseeds, 446 of Pulses, 168 of Forage crops, 392 of Fibres, 27 of Other crops and 96 of Sugarcane.

A total of 341 Drought tolerant Varieties Oilseeds (25); Pulses (43); Fibre crops (18); Forage crops (16); Sugarcane (36); Other crops (3).

(b) & (c): To strengthen and disseminate the latest agricultural technologies and information to farmers across the country, Government is implementing Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) scheme across the country for technology assessment, demonstration and capacity development among the farmers and extension functionaries. A total of 731 KVKs are operational in country. At district level, KVKs facilitate in convergence with various schemes of line departments like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Khet Talab Yojna and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) etc. Village Climate Risk Management Committees, Custom hiring centres, seed banks and fodder banks activities were undertaken for upscaling and spread of resilient technologies. Timely agro advisories are being issued by the KVKs to farmers to take informed decisions regarding the impending weather situations.

State wise no. of KVKs established is given in the Annexure-I. District wise list of KVKs of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are given in Annexure-II. ******** 2Annexure-I [Part (b) & (c) of Lok Sabha USQ No. 2601 dated 16TH DECEMBER, 2025] State-wise list of KVKs in India.

States Total A & N Island 03 Andhra Pradesh 24 Arunachal Pradesh 17 Assam 26 Bihar 44 Chhattisgarh 28 Delhi 01 Goa 02 Gujarat 30 Haryana 18 Himachal Pradesh 13 Jammu & Kashmir 20 Jharkhand 24 Karnataka 33 Kerala 14 Ladakh 04 Lakshadweep 01 Madhya Pradesh 54 Maharashtra 50 Manipur 09 Meghalaya 07 Mizoram 08 Nagaland 11 Odisha 33 Puducherry 03 Punjab 22 Rajasthan 47 Sikkim 04 Tamil Nadu 32 Telangana 16 Tripura 08 Uttar Pradesh 89 Uttarakhand 13 West Bengal 23 Total 731 3Annexure-II [Part (b) & (c) of Lok Sabha USQ No. 2601 dated 16TH DECEMBER, 2025] District wise no of KVKs in Madhya Pradesh District No. of KVKs District No. of KVKs Agarmalwa 1 Mandla 1 Alirajpur 1 Mandsaur 1 Anuppur 1 Mauganj 0 Ashok Nagar 1 Morena 1 Badwani 1 Narsinghpur 1 Balaghat 1 Neemuch 1 Bankhedi 1 Niwari 0 Betul 1 Pandhurna 0 Bhind 1 Panna 1 Bhopal 1 Raisen 1 Burhanpur 1 Rajgarh 1 Chhatarpur 1 Ratlam 1 Chhindwara 2 Rewa 1 Damoh 1 Sagar 2 Datia 1 Satna 1 Dewas 1 Sehore 1 Dhar 2 Seoni 1 Dindori 1 Shahdol 1 Guna 1 Shajapur 1 Gwalior 1 Sheopur 1 Harda 1 Shivpuri 1 Indore 1 Sidhi 1 Jabalpur 1 Singrauli 1 Jhabua 1 Tikamgarh 1 Katni 1 Ujjain 1 Khandwa 1 Umaria 1 Khargone 1 Vidisha 1 Maihar 0 Total KVK 54 District wise no of KVKs in Maharashtra District No. of KVKs District No. of KVKs Ahmednagar (Ahilyanagar) 2 Nandurbar 1 Akola 1 Nashik 2 Amaravati 2 Osmanabad(Dharashiv) 1 Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 2 Palghar 1 Beed 2 Parbhani 1 Bhandara 1 Pune-I 2 Buldhana 2 Raigad 1 Chandrapur 1 Ratnagiri 1 Dhule 1 Sangli I 2 Gadchiroli 1 Satara 2 Gondia 1 Sindhudurg 1 Hingoli 1 Solapur 2 Jalgaon 2 Thane 1 Jalna 2 Wardha 1 Kolhapulr 2 Washim 1 Latur 1 Yavatmal-I 2 Nagpur 2 Total KVKs 50 Nanded 2 4