Agri conclave aims at leveraging tech to double farmers’ income by 2022

LUCKNOW: Doubling farmers’ income by 2022 was the key focus area for the government and efforts should be made to figure out how science and technology could be leveraged to realise this goal, said participants at the Agriculture Conclave organised as part of the mega Science, Technology and Industrial Expo, on the railway ground in Gomti Nagar here on Saturday. The conclave was held under the aegis of the ongoing India International Science Festival 2018 (IISF).

Scientists from the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (CISH), the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research and the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources answered people’s queries on various aspects of agriculture and horticulture at the pavilion of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Visitors from different parts of the country were interested to know about these institutes. “Farmers expressed interest in getting to know about the latest varieties of sugarcane and the know-how of organic jaggery production,” said Shailendra Rajan, director, ICAR-CISH.

Farmers and kitchen garden lovers also inquired about the different varieties of fruits and vegetables that were suitable for cultivation. “farmers also tried to find solutions to controlling diseases and pests, some of which were not even known to them. They shared photographs in their phones,” said Rajan.

Cross-learning and information sharing on production technology was an important outcome of the exhibition in the ICAR display, he said.

Many farmers from Maharashtra and Gujarat expressed interest in visiting the CISH to get to know more about the institute’s technologies. A group of farmers from Karnataka even arranged a vehicle and reached the institute to satisfy their curiosity regarding different aspects of guava high density planting.

An LED TV display on ‘in situ conservation’ and ‘fish seed ranching programme’ to support the ‘Namami Gange’ project was also organised. “Information about the Ganga aquarium was a big attraction for visitors,” said an official.