Vice-President Pushes Indigenous Seed Development to Cut Imports and Raise Farmers’ Incomes

Indigenous seed development in India can play a key role in reducing import dependence and increasing farmers’ incomes, Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan said on Monday.

Indigenous seed development gets push in Andhra Pradesh

He launched India’s first non-GMO, high-expansion popcorn maize hybrid seed, developed by Gourmet Popcornica, at Musunuru in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh.

He called it a significant step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat in agriculture.

Stating that India is going to export and not import popcorn, he The Vice President said he was happy to see the embracing era of technology and innovation.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat will be built from the ground, from the soil of our farmers, the seeds perfected by our scientists and entrepreneurs, and self-reliance strengthened acre by acre, he said.

Radhakrishnan visited the Gourmet Popcornica factory and cold storage facility, where he was briefed on the end-to-end maize processing ecosystem, including quality control, packaging, and storage operations.

Andhra Pradesh Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also participated in the programme.

The Vice-President lauded the schemes of the Central and State governments for the welfare of farmers.

Non-GMO hybrid maize cultivated across 40,000 acres

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, in his speech, said that Gourmet Popcornica is producing these indigenous, non-GMO seeds domestically on Indian soil in collaboration with farmers.

This non-GMO hybrid maize is being cultivated across 40,000 acres, involving 17,500 farmers. The country’s largest popcorn processing plant has been established at Musunuru, near Nuzvid.

“Popcorn maize grown on Nuzvid soil is exported to various regions across the country as well as to other nations,” he said.

Andhra Pradesh aims to expand Indian popcorn exports

The Chief Minister noted that Gourmet Popcornica has emerged as the country’s largest popcorn production company and holds a 70 per cent share of popcorn production nationwide.

Stating that until now, a significant portion of the popcorn consumed in India came from countries like Brazil, he called for exporting Indian popcorn to the global market.

The Chief Minister announced that steps will be taken to set up counters at railway stations to offer products like Andhra popcorn and Araku coffee.

He claimed that the NDA governments at both the Centre and the State view agriculture as an economic powerhouse and farmers as entrepreneurs.

“Our goal is to add value to farmers’ produce and export it. Crops such as turmeric, maize, and chillies, as well as aquaculture products, should reach the global market,” he said.

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