902 teams of scientists interacted with 4.5L farmers: Karnal institute Director

ICAR-NDRI Director Dr Dheer Singh, along with Dr Ratan Tiwari, Director, ICAR–Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), and Dr Shiv Kumar Yadav, Regional Head, ICAR-IARI Regional Centre, have jointly said that the Union Agriculture Ministry’s outreach programme, Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, provided scientists with a valuable opportunity to receive first-hand feedback from farmers regarding their challenges and suggestions.

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Over a span of 15 days, as many as 902 teams of scientists visited around 3,500 villages and reached out to nearly 4.5 lakh farmers. Around 10,000 suggestions and issues were raised by farmers, which would be submitted to the Union Ministry of Agriculture, said Dr Dheer Singh, who is heading the campaign for the state, with ICAR-NDRI acting as the nodal institute.

“It was a fruitful programme for both the scientific community and farmers. We received important feedback on issues faced by farmers, while they gained valuable information about agricultural practices and research,” said Dr Singh. He maintained that one major concern highlighted during the programme was declining number of youth in agriculture, which poses a serious challenge for the state.

Farmers also raised the demand for easy and low cost availability of sex-sorted semen to promote the birth of female calves, he said.

Dr Singh said farmers highlighted the lack of proper marketing opportunities for honey and expressed concern over not receiving remunerative prices for milk.

Another major issue raised was repeat breeding and missed heat cycles in animals, which resulted in significant economic losses for farmers, he asserted.

“Based on farmers’ feedback, we compiled 10,000 points of suggestions and problems, which will be submitted to the Union Ministry of Agriculture,” the Director said.

Dr Singh praised the initiative of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, crediting his vision for the launch of this programme, which enabled direct interaction between scientists and farmers in fields.

Dr Ratan Tiwari mentioned that during the campaign, scientists educated farmers about improved crop varieties, including paddy, wheat, sugarcane, maize, pulses and more. Emphasis was laid on the judicious use of insecticides, pesticides and fertilisers, he said. Scientists also encouraged farmers to focus on value addition in their produce to increase profitability, he said.

Farmers were apprised about policies of the government, he said. Dr Yadav said farmers were also informed about direct seeded rice (DSR) and its varieties — PUSA 1979 and PUSA 1985.

Both Dr Tiwari and Dr Yadav emphasised that several crucial issues raised by farmers would be forwarded to the Union Government for

necessary action.