Director Agriculture, Government of Jharkhand Nisha Oraon Singhmar on Monday urged the scientists to devise strategies for properly addressing the climate change and environmental issues to ensure safe and sustainable food production without damaging the natural resources and biodiversity.
Singhmar stressed on prioritizing research focus on health food and high value crops to meet the changing demand pattern and ensure higher return to farmers.
Addressing the 41st Kharif Council of Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) as Chief Guest, she emphasized on judicious application of chemical fertilizers in crops for survival and growth of soil microorganisms facilitating soil fertility enhancement and absorption of nutrients by plants and it will also check pollution of water bodies. She said 10 lakh hectare cultivable land of the state was acidic and 3 lakh hectares was degradable, scientists should work on reviving and utilizing this land gainfully. She also underlined the need of close coordination between bureaucrats, planners and scientists for bridging the gap between lab to land and maximizing technology outreach.
The Director Agriculture said the State Government has created an agricultural infrastructure fund for preservation and marketing of perishable farm produce.
“Every farmer will be provided with a unique ID for identifying beneficiaries of schemes. In Jharkhand, agriculture is not only a livelihood but also a very old culture, scientists should try to improve and refine the traditional farm practices with modern tools and techniques,” she added.
Speaking on the occasion BAU Vice Chancellor, Dr Onkar Nath Singh said that BAU was marching ahead on teaching, research, technology transfer and seed production fronts with the continued support of the State Government. Issues of new colleges related to infrastructure facilities and human resource will be thrashed out soon with the combined effort of the university and State Government, he added. Former Vice Chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur Dr AK Singh suggested that formulation and handling of two research projects by every scientist be made mandatory.
The State Government should provide Rs 50,000 for every Ph D student annually and Rs 20,000 for each M Sc student to improve the quality of curricular research, he stressed.
Presenting an overview of research achievements BAU, Director Research Dr A Wadood said that total food grains production in Jharkhand last year was record 72 lakh tonnes out of which 51 lakh tonnes was rice only.
Total amount of rainfall during recent years has increased but the number of rainy days has decreased leading to long dry spells during critical crop growth stages.