Summit brings the world to Jharkhand farmers
The Global Agriculture and Food Summit was the major highlight of the Jharkhand government calendar this year. The maiden summit in the state, held on November 29-30 in Ranchi, aimed to open the doors of international vegetable markets for Jharkhand farmers.
Over 10,000 farmers and experts, delegates and officials from different countries such as China, Israel, the Philippines, Morocco, Mongolia, Tunisia, and Brazil took part in the global event, sharing their expertise in the agriculture sector for Jharkhand farmers and agropreneurs.
With an aim to provide employment to the youth, the foundations of 50 food processing plants, to come up at projected cost of ₹271 crore, were also laid jointly by Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das. The officials said that this would create 1,600 direct and 4,100 indirect jobs.
Israel offered to set up a centre of excellence for better farm yield in Jharkhand. China assured that it would sign a Memoran-
dum of Understanding soon with the Jharkhand government for export of the state’s ladies’ fingers (okra) crop to China. Similarly, the Philippines and Singapore will buy jackfruits from the state.
Yoga guru and business owner Baba Ramdev spoke for the state’s organic products, and announced that his company Patanjali would purchase Jharkhand’s organic agricultural produce at an appropriate price.
Representatives from five partner countries — China, Israel, Mongolia, the Philippines, and Tunisia — said that this global forum would open avenues for agricultural development in Jharkhand as well as in their own countries.
Over 5,000 farmers from the state also took part in the global summit. They said that it was the opportunity of a lifetime for them to learn about new technology in the sector.
Pledging to double farmers’ income by 2022, the chief minister on this occasion announced the waiver of interest on loans given to farmers, mobile phones for 28 lakh farmers, and six-hour uninterrupted power supply daily for farming purposes. The mobile phones are expected to help the farmers connect better with the markets.
It was also announced that the state would send 100 farmers, including 50 women, to Israel and the Philippines for learning.