The Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, (IGAU), Raipur has decided to sell seeds and other materials used in farming through authorized dealers and institutions. The interested traders/institutions will have to get themselves registered with the varsity, officials informed here on Sunday.
The registration form with fee of Rs100 can be submitted with office of Director Research Services, IGAU, Raipur. The forms could be downloaded from the website of IGAU www.igau.edu.in. The registration fee can be deposited through demand draft (DD). The registration will be valid for three years along with registration fee of Rs5,000. The DD for registration should be in name Audit Controller, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya and it should be deposited latest by February 25, 2015.
Incidentally, early this month, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi also selected IGAU, Raipur as a ‘Voluntary Centre’ for advanced research on groundnuts. Dr K K Sahoo, Public Relation officer, IGAU informed that it was the result of special initiative taken by Vice Chancellor of the University Dr SK Patil. The project will speed up research on groundnuts in Chhattisgarh.
The research will be helpful in identifying type of groundnut crop that suits the soil at local level which in turn will help in increasing production, he said. Notably, apart from paddy, IGAU is also carrying out research on oil-seed crops.
The IGAU is also planning to develop new varieties of rice from 23250 varieties of rice germplasm conserved in the university. In October last year , IGAU Vice-Chancellor Dr S K Patil had directed the Head of Genetics and Plant Breeding Department to prepare a comprehensive action plan for this, officials said.
The officials said that testing of 17000 germplasm out of total germplasm available with the University has been completed. The Agronomy Department has been asked to start test production of the first 100 varieties of these so that varieties yielding good production could be identified and their seeds can be produced. Dr Patil had also directed the concerned officers for compiling the research work of Agriculture Scientist Dr HR Richhariya who had collected and conserved germplasm of rare varieties of paddy. The research work of Dr Richhariya on paddy should be preserved as heritage.
He also directed the officers to develop new varieties for preparation of Murra and Poha from Dokra-Dokri variety. It may also be mentioned here that the the Agriculture Service Centres established in every development block by Chhattisgarh government are providing agricultural equipments on rent to the farmers, officials stated. The move has benefitted many farmers who cannot afford costly agricultural implements, they stated. This apart, the State Government’s ‘Kisaan Samriddhi Yojana’ has also proved to be a boon for farmers. Under this scheme, farmers are provided section-wise grant for tube-well digging, they stated.
More than 75,000 farmers have been benefited under the scheme. State Government is operating number of other schemes, which have proved extremely beneficial for the farmers. Besides cultivation, animal husbandry and fishery are the additional source of income for farmers. Hence, State government has included animal husbandry and fishery under its all-round agricultural development policy. With the help of government schemes, large number of farmers has taken up employment-oriented activities to march ahead on the path of progress.
To encourage farmers practicing traditional animal husbandry, the State government started the scheme of providing loan upto Rs 1 lakh at one per cent interest, from previous year. Moreover, several schemes have also been started to promote fishery. Chhattisgarh has become self-dependent in supply of fish seeds.