NEW DELHI, 20 September 2020: The cropping pattern is dependent on various factors viz. agro-climatic conditions of the region, availability of resources, market forces, socio-economic conditions of the farmers, demand and supply of agricultural produce etc.

Accordingly, Government of India has been emphasizing promotion of various crops/cropping system viz. rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals, nutri cereals& commercial crops under National Food Security Mission (NFSM), oilseeds under NFSM-Oilseeds, horticultural crops under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in Rajya Sabha recently.

The new technologies on crops/cropping pattern are demonstrated at the farmers’ field through State Department of Agriculture/ Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)/State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) etc. and are creating awareness among farmers to choose appropriate crops/cropping system.

ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming Systems Research, Modipuram is undertaking extensive research (on-station research) and technology validation through farmers’ participatory research (on-farm research) on crop diversification under the aegis of AICRP-Integrated Farming Systems (AICRP-IFS) in 25 States/Union Territory with the participation of 34 State Agricultural Universities and 1 Central University.

A study on “Identification of cropping system module for different farming system” at 36 locations through AICRP on Integrated Farming Systems has been conducted in 31 districts in 20 states.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare has organized seven Agro Climatic Zonal Conferences with the State Governments, ICAR, Agricultural Universities, KVKs during the month of September 2020 for better planning of cropping systems.

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