Envoys of partner countries, CEOs of global firms and experts in the field of agriculture today applauded the initiatives taken by the Government of Jharkhand in the leadership of Chief Minister Raghubar Das to promote agriculture and provide logistic and technical support to the rural agriculturists in their speeches during the first Global Agriculture and Food Summit that kicked off here on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion Maya Kadosh, Charge D Affaires, Embassy of Israel, said that the work being done in the field of agriculture is invigorating. She said that Israel in collaboration with Jharkhand is working on increasing productivity by using latest technology in agriculture and water management.
She said that a lot of work is already happening in the State and with the prospects of food processing, use of latest technology and sharing of new ideas in the field of agriculture the State can be a huge producer of agro-products.
Ambassador of Mongolia, Gonchig Ganbold said that his country is one of the smallest democracies in the world and it has worked a lot in the field of agriculture. He said that the government in Jharkhand is working with several investors in the field of agriculture and this will help increase the income of the farmers. He said that the summit is going to be a milestone for agriculture development in the State.
Vice President, Coca Cola, India, Ishteyaq Ahmed said on the occasion that the State of Jharkhand has umpteen opportunities in food processing industry, which need to be utilised by the farmers. Lauding the efforts of the government, he said that the company will help in possible way to promote agriculture and food processing in the State.
Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant congratulated the people of Jharkhand for registering 19 per cent growth in agriculture in just four years. He said that the State has registered 83 per cent growth in fish production in just four years. He encouraged farmers of the State to adopt dairy farming, fisheries, organic farming to increase their income and hoped that the kind of efforts the government is putting in will result in four times increase in the income of farmers of the State. Kant said that the kind of transformation the lives of farmers in Jharkhand has undergone is not seen in any other State of the country in last four years.
Deputy Director General, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Song Joguo said that the global summit is a beautiful platform for the farmers and industries involved in agriculture. He said that it is pleasure to be a partner country in the summit and they will work jointly to protect the interest of developing countries.
Meanwhile, Business Head, SAFAL, Pradipta Sahu said that the kind of cooperation they have received in Jharkhand is not available anywhere. “We offered to set up a plant here in the year 2016 and within 30 days we were made available the required land. Within a year we set up a plant here investing Rs 100 crore. Now we are exporting peas and American Sweet corn from here. In coming days we have aimed to set up a plant for processing of one lakh tonnes of tomato with the help of 50,000 farmers,” he said.
Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Philippines Arvin De Leon said on the occasion that agriculture is backbone of food security. He said that the summit will open doors for collaboration between Philippines and Jharkhand and next time they will have bigger delegation here for mutual cooperation in the field of agriculture.
