Jharkhand News: Biggest challenge for farmers is to get right price for produce, says Speaker

 

Ranchi, March 3: Assembly Speaker Ravindra Nath Mahto has appealed to the scientists to recommend agricultural technology according to the social, economic, and educational background and circumstances of the farmers and their geographical environment so that it becomes easy for them to adopt the recommendations and get the right results.

Middlemen and hoarders

He said that middlemen and hoarders buy and store most of the farmers’ produce at a low price and sell it at a higher price after some time. Due to this, farmers get less profit, and middlemen get more profit. 

“The biggest challenge is to provide the right price to the farmers for their agricultural and animal products. Half of their problem will be solved if they get the right price,” he maintained.

Agrotech Kisan Fair

Mahto addressed farmers and scientists on Sunday at the Agrotech Kisan Fair at Birsa Agricultural University. 

He said that only 40% of the land in Jharkhand can be cultivated, and in the remaining 60%, an action plan should be made to harvest crops according to the soil and topography. 

Animal and bird exhibition

The Assembly Speaker also inaugurated the animal and bird exhibition organised at the fair. 

In this, 165 animal farmers from more than a dozen nearby villages displayed their cows, buffaloes, pada, padi, bulls, hens, goats, pigs, rabbits, ducks, etc.

Women farmers’ seminar

Women farmers’ seminar was also organised at the fair today, addressing the issue of Rajya Sabha member Dr Mahua Maji saying that Jharkhand has a lot of natural wealth, yet most of the people here are poor. 

“To stop the migration of labourers from Jharkhand and to stop human trafficking, the Hemant government started many welfare schemes which have started yielding positive results,” she added.

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Former Mayor and BJP national secretary Asha Lakra said that almost 80% of the agricultural work, like weeding, harvesting, etc., is done by women. Hence they should save their labour, time and cost by adopting innovative techniques. 

Malnutrition is a major issue: VC 

While delivering the welcome address, Vice Chancellor Dr Sunil Chandra Dubey said the fair’s theme was nutrition, income, and employment promotion through agricultural innovations. Malnutrition and undernutrition are significant issues in Jharkhand, for which emphasis is placed on producing and consuming more nutritious grains, fruits and vegetables.

In the women farmers seminar, Dr Manigopa Chakraborty, Dr Rekha Sinha, Dr Swati Sahay and Dr Aarti Veena Ekka threw light on modern agriculture, animal husbandry techniques, and diet plans for nutrition. 

Dr Nandani Kumari and Shashi Singh conducted it. The main coordinator of the fair is Dr. Jagarnath Oraon, Director of Extension Education.

70 types of agricultural equipment

About 70 types of agricultural equipment – hand-driven, animal-driven, tractor-driven, motor-driven, automatic – have been displayed for farming works like ploughing, sowing, transplanting, weeding, drug spraying, harvesting, rosemary, etc., out of which ten are available for sale.

Many types of artefacts made of bamboo and wood are being sold at the Forest Science stall.