Monsoon delay will not hit agri production: Singh

The delay in the onset of monsoon in the country will not have any adverse impact on agricultural production this year, Union Agriculture Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the World Seed Congress in Bangalore.

The government would not revise the estimate for agriculture production and its exports, he said referring to the arrival of monsoon in the north-east and the Kerala coast.

Earlier, in his inaugural address at the Seed Congress, organised by the International Seed Federation for the first time in Asia, Singh called on the Indian seed industry to play a major role in the dissemination of the latest agricultural technologies to the farmers by providing "good quality seeds" to them.

"As Indian economy is changing rapidly, the Indian seed industry must also change and compete with the global industry in technology, quality, innovation and cost-effectiveness for the benefit of the farmers in India and abroad," he said.

Singh said the concerns of potential impact on human health and environment through genetically modified crops must be addressed if the benefits of this technology were to reach the farmers.