Hailakandi DC Keerthi Jalli inaugurates two-day Kishan Mela-2020

A Correspondent

Hailakandi: Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli inaugurated the two-day Kishan Mela 2020 at Zilla Krishi Bhawan premises here on Monday. Speaking in the open session, DC Jalli stressed the need for the farming community to become aware of their rights and strengthen themselves so as not to get exploited by the market forces or middlemen.

The DC observed that the State government is proactive in supporting the farm sector and the Chief Minister has the vision to double farmer’s income by 2021. Jalli highlighted the importance of the adoption of new technologies and techniques in increasing the production and productivity of agriculture and its allied sectors and urged the farm universities to play a proactive role in transferring knowledge to the farmer’s field.

Jalli asked the farmers to switch from mono-cropping to multiple cropping and to utilize the barren and fallow land during winter to raise their income. “Not only hard work but smart work is the need of the hour to increase productivity and to double one’s income,” she quipped.

The DC appealed to the farmers to come forward to avail of the different government schemes offered by way of subsidies. She said low lift pumps, threshers, and other agriculture implements are being provided to the farmers of the district to encourage them to go in for farm mechanization. She asked the farmers to sell their paddy to the Food Corporation of India to get the proper price for their products without involving the middlemen.

Jalli asked the farmers to keep their Kishan Credit Cards active so that the benefits of government schemes could be transferred directly to their bank accounts. The DC disclosed that the administration in association with concerned departments is going to launch an initiative to procure milk from the farmers at a remunerative price. “Under this new initiative, milk will be procured from the farmers at the remunerative price. The only thing the farmers have to ensure is that the milk has to be undiluted and pure. Otherwise, it will be rejected,” she added.

The inaugural function was attended among others, by District Agriculture Officer, Sudipto Dev Ray, Subdivisional Agriculture Officer, Dr.AR Ahmed and senior officials of allied departments.

Earlier, Jalli inaugurated the exhibition and inspected various stalls put up by Agriculture and allied departments for educating farmers about government schemes and farm-related techniques and technologies.

In the afternoon, a seminar was held on the topic ‘doubling farmers’ income - technological interventions’ chaired by Chief Scientist, RARS, Karimganj, Dr.Safiqul Hussain in which speakers RA Laskar, District Veterinary Officer, AD Deepak Misra, SMS, Horticulture, KVK, and Manna Ranjan Das, LDM dwelt at length on the methodologies to double income.

On Tuesday, a seminar on ‘various initiatives on sustainable development of agriculture’ will be held. It will be chaired by Head and Senior Scientist, KVK, Hailakandi, Dr.Bijoy Chetri. The two-day mela is being organized by the Agriculture Department.

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