Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh exhorted the farmers of Bihar to use various “apps” launched by the govt to their benefits. Singh was addressing “Kisan Goshthi Sah Prakshetra Bhraman” organized at ICAR in Patna on Wednesday.
Giving a list of apps Singh said Kisan Suvidha and Pusa Krishi Apps, Crop Insurance Mobile App and Agricultural Market App have been developed by incorporating information technology in agriculture. Farmers can get information about climate change, agricultural consultations, market prices etc through the apps, he said.
Krishi Vigyan Kendra is working in all 38 districts for the promotion, evaluation, and training of agricultural technology. Agricultural science portal has been created to provide information about the activities of all the agricultural science centers, Singh stated.
“National Agricultural Market (eNAM) App provides information about the value of the crop in mandis within the range of 50 km. Crop insurance portal reduces claim settlement time and increases transparency. To double the income of the farmers till 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture is running a seven-point program”, emphasized the Minister.
Singh also said while for the rest of India Agriculture contributes around 14 percent in the country’s GDP its contribution is 19 percent in Bihar. Thus compared to the rest of the country, there is more pressure on agriculture in Bihar.
The state’s share in land holdings in the country is 3.8 percent, whereas Bihar’s share in the country’s population is 8.6 percent. The population density of the state is 1106 people per sq. Km, whereas the national average is only 382 persons per sq. Km.
In the state, 91 percent of the farmers are marginal while the national average is 68 percent. Keeping this in view, the population of the state is under heavy pressure and the number of marginal farmers and agricultural laborers in the farming families is higher.
The state has enough natural resources such as fertile soil, water and agricultural hydrological conditions for the development of agriculture. In the last four-five years apart from achievements in crop and horticulture, there has been a significant progress in agriculture too.
“Agricultural universities and agricultural institutions have made significant contributions in agricultural production. At present, there are two agricultural universities and one animal science university, four research institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (two in Patna, and one each in Muzaffarpur and Motihari), four regional agricultural research institutes (in Motipur, Pusa, Darbhanga and Begusarai), six agricultural colleges, one fish, dairy, agricultural management, horticulture and veterinary college in the state”, said Singh.