Governor Ramesh Bais today said that at present Jharkhand is at the first place in the production of lac in the country and lac is a big source of livelihood in rural life here. He assured the farmers, at IINRG, who came to the fair that in the direction of development of lac, he would try to form a lac board in collaboration with the present government.
The inaugural session of the two-day Kisan Mela-cum-Agriculture Exhibition was organised at ICAR-Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, here on Saturday. The function was attended by Governor Ramesh Bais, as the Chief Guest and Sanjay Seth, MP, Ranchi as the Special Guest.
Addressing the farmers, guests, scientists and officers/employees present in the fair, the Governor said that lac is a multi-use natural product and India is the largest producer of it. About 20,000 tonnes of lac is produced in our country every year and almost 65 per cent of it is exported to different countries of the world. This shows the usefulness and commercial importance of this product. Jharkhand is the largest lac producing State of the country. Jharkhand's lac production percent is 55 per cent of the country's total production and neighboring state Chhattisgarh is second with about 17 per cent share.
Addressing the function as the special guest, Sanjay Seth said that there are many such products including lac like Tasar, fruits, vegetables etc. Due to being driven, we are not getting the fair value of our hard work, but others are getting it. Referring to the government schemes, Sanjay Seth said that at present, the government is working towards reducing the interference of middlemen and brokers. Both human and natural resources are available in our State; they just need to be managed in a planned manner.
The function started with the lighting of the lamp by the chief guest and distinguished guests and Dr Kewal Krishna Sharma, the Director of the institute, felicitated the guests by giving a bouquet. In his welcome address, Dr. Sharma expressed his gratitude to the chief guest and special guests, other guests, farmers, representatives of news media and informed about the activities and achievements of the institute. Introducing the institute, he said that the institute is one of the oldest institutions of All India Council of Agriculture and in 2024 it is completing 100 years of its establishment. Referring to the achievements of the institute, Dr. Sharma said that to develop Semialata saplings as a lac nut tree, fix minimum support prices for lac, awareness through training of scientific cultivation of lac in rural life and many other things. There are works, which the institute has continuously done in the interest of farmers in its journey of 97 years.
The Chief Guest inaugurated the exhibition on this occasion and the distinguished guests visited the Institute, Research Area, Museum and Laboratories. The convener of the programme Dr. Nirmal Kumar, Head of the Department proposed vote of thanks.
