7,400 villages to be covered under Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan in Haryana

The nationwide campaign, announced by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will be launched from May 29 and will continue until June 12

ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) will lead the “Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan” in Haryana and cover 7,400 villages with support from other institutes and the state government, officials said on Friday.

NDRI director Dheer Singh, nominated by ICAR as the Haryana nodal officer, said that the campaign also aims to lay the foundation for advanced agriculture, modern farming techniques. (File)

The nationwide campaign, announced by Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will be launched from May 29 and will continue until June 12. It aims to create awareness among farmers about modern technology and new seed varieties.

NDRI director Dheer Singh, nominated by ICAR as the Haryana nodal officer, said that the campaign also aims to lay the foundation for advanced agriculture, modern farming techniques.

Addressing a press conference, Singh said that there are nearly 7,400 villages in the state, which will be further combined to make 900 clusters.

“30 teams of NDRI scientists in support from the state government and other institutes will visit these clusters daily for 15 days for a this first-of-its kind direct interaction with the farmers. The villagers will be introduced to modern agriculture practices, welfare schemes of the government, and their grievances will be heard to facilitate the policy making, the director added.

“To achieve these goals, the ministry has outlined a comprehensive six-point strategy: To boost agricultural production, reduce production costs, ensuring fair pricing for farm produce, compensating for losses due to natural disasters, promote crop diversification, value addition, and food processing and encouraging natural and organic farming practices,” Singh said.

BS Meena, principal scientist, extension and in-charge of Agriculture Technology Information Centre, who is coordinating the programme at Karnal said that this unique initiative is designed as a two-way engagement in which farmers will have the opportunity to share their challenges, ask questions, and report field issues, which will help shape future research and policy directions.