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Winds of change in Krishi Bhavan

NEW DELHI: In a novel initiative, senior bureaucrats of the Union Agriculture Ministry here have been asked to tour the country to identify institutes and the technologies available for dissemination in the field. They will also interact with farmers to assess their demands and strengthen the extension services.

After visiting a few States “to check on the ground the implementation of various schemes”, Agriculture Secretary P. K. Basu said officials of the rank of Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary will “move into the field”.

They will visit the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the State Agriculture Universities to assess how they can improve the content and delivery of the schemes.

Informed sources said the Secretary would personally monitor the tour programme of each officer who has been asked to submit a report on his observations and suggestions. The officers will interact with district authorities and farmers in coordination with the State Agriculture Department.

One Additional Secretary from the Ministry will be the nodal officer for Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Jammu and Kashmir. He will visit the Central Arid Zone Research Institute of Dry Land Agriculture in Hyderabad, G.B. Pant Agriculture University and Jammu & Kashmir State Agriculture University.

The second Additional Secretary, who will be the nodal officer for West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, will visit the ICAR Research Complex, Patna, Central Rice Research Institute in Cuttack, National Academy of Agriculture Research and Management in Hyderabad, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology in Bhubaneswar and Raipur Agriculture University.

The third will be in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He will visit the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agriculture University in Hyderabad, Agriculture University in Dharwad and the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University.

Another official from the Ministry will cover Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He will visit the National Institute of Abiotic Stress Management in Malegaon, National Research Centre for Grapes in Pune, Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research in Anand, Rahuri State Agriculture University and Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth in Akola. Eleven joint secretaries will separately visit ICAR institutes in Tripura, Assam, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim and Chhattisgarh.

Extension services in the public sector have drawn a lot of criticism as has the lag in technologies developed in laboratories reaching Indian farmers. This exercise is an attempt to sensitise the Krishi Bhavan mandarins to the problems faced by farmers in the field and find solutions with the involvement of agriculture scientists.

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Winds of change in Krishi Bhavan

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