Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Thursday pitched for the cultivation of millets at all levels in order to provide nutritious food to the growing population of the world.
He said that regular consumption of nutrition-rich cereals strengthens the body's immunity, so more and more efforts should be made to popularise the products of coarse cereals among the general public.
Mishra was addressing the convocation ceremony of Shri Karna Narendra Agricultural University of Jobner from Raj Bhavan virtually on Thursday.
Millets, jowar, ragi, kutki, samwa, kangni, chena and kodo have traditionally been a part of Indian food. In most parts of Rajasthan, coarse grains are still an important part of the diet of common people, according to Mishra.
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The governor said that this is the time for smart agriculture. Remote sensing, IoT, robotics, big data analytics and artificial intelligence have ushered in a new revolution in agriculture. He said that agricultural universities will have to make farmers aware about new techniques related to smart farming.
Further, Mishra said there is a need to give a new dimension to agricultural education keeping in view the deteriorating weather system, the crisis in biodiversity, and lack of means of irrigation. He suggested a detailed study of climate change under Krishi Vigyan Kendras, pointing out the side-effects of unseasonal rains and hailstorms on agriculture.
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There is a need to prepare effective methods for farmers by combining ancient and new knowledge of agricultural practices so as to achieve the desired goals of increasing agricultural production, food production and storage for food security, providing adequate nutritious food, he said.
During the ceremony, 32 students were awarded PhD, 75 Post Graduate, 3 Integrated Agriculture Post Graduate degrees, 985 Agriculture Graduate degrees and eight students were awarded gold medals.
