A state-level workshop to discuss agricultural growth in Chhattisgarh through formation of farmers’ interest group, farmer producers’ organisations and linking producers directly with market would be held on April 27 here.
The workshop is being jointly organised by Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) and Department of Horticulture. The agenda of workshop would be the discussion on four key points, including ongoing activities of SFAC; various schemes being implemented by SFAC for the formation of Farmers Interest Group (FIG) and Farmer Producers Organisation (FPO); discussion on providing marketing linkage and other services and assistance provided by SFAC.
The key speakers of the workshop would be Managing Director of SFAC (Govt. of India) Pravesh Sharma (IAS), Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) Ajay Singh (IAS), Director (Agriculture) Pratap Rao Kridutt, Director (Horticulture) Bhuvanesh Yadav and State Agriculture Management Extension & Training Institute (SAMETI) Director C l Jain.
Besides, the Managing Directors of Chhattisgarh State Seed Corporation, Chhattisgarh State Marketing Board and Resource Institutions along with Kisan Club members, Seed Producing Cooperative Committee members and 2 Progressive farmers from each district of the State will also participate in the workshop.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government has prepared a three-year action plan to carry out soil testing of farm lands for ascertaining the fertility of agricultural lands. The government plans to collect more than nine lakh soil samples as part of the project for their examination. After tests are carried out, the farmers would be handed over ‘soil health cards’.
The State government has already approved setting up of soil testing laboratories in eight district headquarters . It was informed in a meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner Ajay Singh, that the laboratories would be established in Baloda Bazar, Gariaband, Mahasamund, Kawardha, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Mungeli and Surajpur.
Currently soil testing laboratories have been functioning in district headquarters of Raipur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Jagdalpur, Bilaspur, Raigarh and Ambikapur. In December last year, the Department of Soil Science and Agriculture Chemistry of Indira Gandhi Agriculture University (IGAU) started running of its mobile unit to test quality of soil at the agriculture science centres situated in 19 districts of the State.
The mobile unit is scheduled to render its service for one month at each agriculture science centre to test quality of the soil brought by the farmers of the respective district. In the first phase, the mobile unit reached Dhamtari, where District Collector Bhim Singh participated in a soil testing camp to learn the process and also to know about quality of the soil brought by the farmers of Rudri village. The farmers were charged Rs10 as fee for soil testing. Besides, if the farmers want to check availability of micro elements in the soil, Rs50 would be the charged additionally. Moreover, recently, Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal had raised the demand of opening ‘Agriculture Science Centers’ in seven districts of the State. He had raised the demand in the 86th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) held in New Delhi .
Agrawal said that Chhattisgarh is a tribal dominated State and the farmers need to learn about modern farming techniques and thus the Agri Science Centers are needed in the State. To achieve the target of providing Health Card of the land to the farmers within three years, it is essential to establish soil testing labs along with Agri Science Centers at the district level.
He said that out of total 27 districts of the State, Agri Science Centers have been established in 20 districts. New Agri Science Centers are needed in the remaining Mungeli, Bemetara, Sukma, Kondagaon, Balod, Surajpur and Raipur districts. Soil testing labs are also needed in all districts, he said.
Advocating for organic farming, Agrawal said that the farmers need to be encouraged for this. He also raised the problems in certification of organic farm products as the process is time consuming and costly. Agrawal requested the Union Agriculture Minister to simplify the certification process as the present process is discouraging for the farmers going for organic farming.
He highlighted the achievements of Chhattisgarh in the field of Agriculture Education and informed that there is dearth of qualified faculty in these institutions. The Minister said that like University Grants Commission, the ICAR should also provide financial assistance to these institutions. Agrawal also emphasized on increasing the practical training of Agriculture students from one year to two years.
He said that Chhattisgarh has increased the number of agriculture colleges from 9 to 19 in 10 years including 7 colleges started in previous year. A new veterinary college has been started in the present financial year and three polytechnics will be started for veterinary sciences.
As many as 8 new courses including water management, value addition of food products, organic farming and honeybee keeping would also be started, Agrawal said. The students are being sent to national-level research centers from the State. The State government has also increased scholarship for agriculture students, he said.
The Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu University has been established to educate and promote research work in the field of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. The State government has sent a proposal of Rs 10 crores to ICAR for modernization of Agri-farms under the Agriculture Department, he said.
It may also be recalled that the Agriculture Service Centres established by Chhattisgarh government provide agricultural equipments on rent to the farmers, officials stated here. 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.
The 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, the 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 Rs1 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.
In year 2013-14, fish seeds worth 1.22 crores were produced. More than two lakh fishermen have been provided employment opportunities through development of 94 per cent of the total area of 1.635 lakh hectares is available in the State for fishery. Giving due importance to agriculture, the State Government presented its first agricultural budget in year 2013-14. Farmers need cash for various agricultural activities right from sowing to reaping.