President of India, Droupadi Murmu today said that there is a greater need to promote Secondary Agriculture to face the challenges in the field of Agriculture in the 21st century.
The President of India graced the centenary celebration of the ICAR-National Institute of Secondary Agriculture (NISA) in Ranchi, Jharkhand today (September 20, 2024). Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar, Chief Minister Hemant Soren were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that besides making farming a profitable venture, there are three other major challenges before agriculture in the 21st century. It is maintaining food and nutrition security, sustainable use of resources and climate change. She stated that activities related to secondary agriculture can help meet these challenges.
Secondary agriculture includes the value addition of primary agricultural products as well as other agriculture-related activities like beekeeping, poultry farming, agricultural tourism etc. She said that agricultural waste can be utilized properly through secondary agriculture activities. They can be processed to make useful and valuable things. In this way, the environment can be protected and the farmers’ income will be increased as well.
The President said that lac is produced in India mainly by the tribal community. It is an important source of their income. She was happy to note that the National Institute of Secondary Agriculture has taken several steps for research and development as well as commercial development of Lac, Natural Resins and Gums. It includes the development of a Small small-scale lac Processing Unit and an Integrated Lac Processing Unit; the development of lac-based natural paints, varnishes and cosmetic products; development of lac-based coating to increase the shelf-life of fruits, vegetables and spices. She expressed confidence that all these steps will help in improving the living standards of tribal brothers and sisters.
The President said that today’s era is the era of disruptive technologies. We have to take advantage of these technologies. At the same time, we have to avoid their side effects. She was happy to note that the Automation and Plant Engineering Division has been established in NISA which focuses on the development of robotics, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence-enabled equipment.
The President said that NISA has done good work in lac farming. But, there are still many areas in which we can go further. For example, there is a demand for high-quality lac in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries. If the quality, supply chain and marketing of Indian lac are improved, our farmers will be able to supply it in the country and abroad and will get better prices.
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CM for connecting farmers with agriculture, alternative farming
PNS
Ranchi
Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on the occasion that NISA is completing 100 years. In these years, the circumstances have become such that farmers have become agricultural labourers on a large scale. Today there is a need to save farmers from becoming agricultural labourers. For this, the central and state governments need to seriously consider so that work can be done with better policy formulation in the interest of farmers.
The CM said that Jharkhand produces 50 to 55 per cent of the country's lac. But earlier we used to produce 70 per cent of lac. Today we can achieve this target. For this, incentives and facilities should be available to connect farmers with lac cultivation. In this regard, our government has given lac the status of agriculture, so that lac production, research, processing, fair price and market can be available.
The CM said that there should be no place for middlemen in the journey of farmers from farming to market. But, unfortunately, middlemen are such a powerful group in the country that they take a large part of the hard work and hard-earned money of the farmers in their pockets. To empower the farmers, they will have to be freed from middlemen at all costs.
Soren said that today due to changes in the environment, a lot of changes are being seen in the weather. Sometimes there is less rain, sometimes more and sometimes drought situation arises. The farmers are the most affected by this. It has a direct impact on their traditional farming. In such a situation, the state government is constantly encouraging farmers for alternative farming. Our government has been continuously working in this direction, so that we can take the farmers forward.
In the centenary celebrations, ICAR Director General Dr. Himanshu Pathak, ICAR Deputy Director General (Agricultural Engineering) Shyam Narayan Jha and Director of National Agricultural Higher Education Institute, Ranchi Dr. Abhijit Kar, and many senior officials, apart from a large number of farmers were present.
