The third meeting of the Board of Directors of Sidhu-Kanho Krishi Evam Vanopaj State Cooperative Union Limited was concluded under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. In the meeting, the CM said that there is a lot of potential in the agriculture and forest produce sector in Jharkhand. Sidhu-Kanho Krishi Evam Vanopaj State Cooperative Union Limited has been formed to promote it. Its objective is to organize various activities of production, collection, processing, research and development of various forest produce on a cooperative basis. In such a situation, information about this cooperative union should reach the farmers, so that they can join it and take advantage of the products.
The CM directed the officials to make all the Lamps-PACS located across the state fully functional, so that the farmers can get maximum benefit from it. He also said that even today a large number of farmers are not registered with Lamps and PACS. In such a situation, take initiative to connect all the left out farmers. The CM said that along with the repair of Lamps-PACS buildings, there should be a strong system of proper maintenance and better management.
The CMsaid that Jharkhand has many forest products like lac, tamarind, kodo, kutki, sarguja, chironji, amla, mahua, karanja, silk and tassar, which have a lot of utility and demand in the market. But its producers are not getting proper benefit from it. He said that steps should be taken towards geo tagging these special products of Jharkhand with value addition, so that along with providing a market to these forest products, farmers can get full benefit. This will also give a distinct identity to these special products of Jharkhand in the global market.
The CM said that appropriate steps should be taken to promote forest produce and agricultural production. Connect as many farmers as possible related to forest produce. Provide information and training related to their production, so that they can produce them commercially. He said that there is a lot of potential for cultivation of lac and silk-tassar in Jharkhand. In such a situation, take initiative to promote its production.
The CM said that the way fluctuations are being seen in the weather today, traditional agriculture is getting affected a lot. In such a situation, farmers will also have to be ready for alternative agriculture. He said that Krishak Pathshala is an important scheme of the state government. In this Krishak Pathshala, farmers should be given training in alternative farming. Connect them with forest produce. For this, take initiative to provide them resources so that in adverse circumstances, they can keep themselves strong by connecting with agriculture work.
The CM said in the meeting that explore the possibilities of bringing Kendu leaves forest produce under the ambit of Sidho-Kanho Agriculture and Forest Produce State Cooperative Federation. This will benefit the workers associated with the production of Kendu leaves.
The CM said in the meeting that all modern facilities are available in the newly built cooperative training center at Phudi. It should be run in a professional manner. If necessary, MOU should be done with National Cooperative Union (NCUI) or National Cooperative Training Council (NCCT) and professional/vocational courses should be conducted there so that the youth of the state can develop skills and get employment.
The possibility of running in PPP mode should also be explored. In the meeting, the Chief Minister directed that proper training should be given to honey collectors. They should be grouped and linked to Sidhcofed and MOU should be done with big companies/institutions like Amul, Saffola, Himalaya to make their honey available in the global market so that honey collectors can get proper price and people can get high quality healthy honey.
In this meeting, Agriculture Minister Deepika Pandey Singh, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary of Forest Environment and Climate Change Department Vandana Dadel, Agriculture Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique, Secretary of Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste, Minority and Backward Class Welfare Department Kripanand Jha, Director cum Chief Executive Officer of Sidho-Kanho Agriculture and Forest Produce State Cooperative Federation Umashankar Singh, Chief Executive Officer of JSLPS Sandeep Singh and APCCF-cum-Managing Director JSFDC YK Das were present.