A meeting of the Agriculture Development Department in Raipur on Tuesday emphasized the need for crop diversification to preserve soil fertility.
The Chairman of the Agricultural Costs and Prices Commission, Professor Vijay Paul Sharma, said cultivating pulses increases fertility.
Farmers need to be encouraged to cultivate pulses besides paddy. This will reduce costs, water consumption and the use of chemical fertilizers, he said.
They should get their fields tested and use high-quality certified seeds, he said.
Agriculture Department Director Chandan Tripathi briefed about the training
being imparted on farmers to boost the production of minor cereal crops.
She also gave a briefing about the cultivation area of major crops and the number of farming families in the state. Indira Gandhi Agricultural University Vice Chancellor, Dr. Girish Chandel, suggested cultivating fortified varieties of paddy and aromatic crops to boost the income of farmers.
