President Droupadi Murmu launched the fourth Krishi Road Map (2023-2028) of Bihar worth ₹1.62 lakh crore on Wednesday. The Agriculture Road Map focuses on increasing agricultural production in the State, while also increasing farmers’ incomes in the next five years.
The road map, the fourth of its kind, also focuses on the storage, processing and expansion of seed and irrigation along with crop diversification as well as improved agriculture marketing.
The President launched the Agriculture Road Map at Babu Sabhagar in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Agriculture Minister Kumar Sarvjeet, Bihar legislative assembly Speaker Awadh Bihar Choudhary and Ministers of several other departments.
The first Agriculture Road Map was launched in 2008, followed by another in 2012 and a third in 2017. Mr. Kumar earlier invited Presidents Pranab Mukherjee and Ram Nath Kovind to launch the second and third Agriculture Road Maps respectively.
“After serving as the President, I will return to my village to do farming. This is my first visit to Bihar as the President but I am closely aware of the culture of Bihar and its people. While being the Governor of Jharkhand, I had the opportunity to know the civilisation and culture of Bihar and Jharkhand in a better way. At the same time, my home district Odisha is also connected to Bihar. So, from a point of view, I feel I can also call myself a Bihari,“ Ms. Murmu said.
The President pointed out that farmers will benefit from engaging in organic farming. Ms. Murmu also expressed her happiness with regards to the construction of an organic corridor on the banks of the river Ganga. The corridor is being used for organic farming, and ethanol is also being produced in Bihar.
“Global warming and climate change is a global problem. This is a crisis for the existence of entire humanity and its biggest impact is on the poor and deprived people. I have been told that Bihar has received low rainfall in recent years. Bihar has been considered a water-rich state, rivers and ponds have been the identity of this state. To maintain this identity, it is very important to pay attention to water conservation,” the President said highlighting the water crisis in the State.
“In my opinion, Climate Resilient Agriculture can play an important role in dealing with the challenge of climate change. By bringing changes in the current farming pattern, bio-diversity can be promoted, exploitation of water resources can be reduced, soil fertility can be conserved, and above all, balanced food can be delivered to the plates of people,” Ms. Murmu added.
“There is a lot of hope from Bihar to fulfil the dream of developed India. The Chief Minister has invited me to visit Bihar and I will definitely come to Bihar again, because I consider this State as my own. I am also a farmer’s daughter. I would like to see the good work being done under the Agriculture Road Map of Bihar,“ Ms. Murmu said.
Mr. Kumar thanked the President for accepting his invitation to launch the State’s Agriculture Road Map, and presented her with a Bhagalpuri Saree with Madhubani painting. He also said that after the success of the fourth road map, there would be no requirement for a fifth.
Some uneasiness was sensed between the Chief Minister and the Governor of Bihar when Mr. Kumar said that Governor is appointed by Centre.
Pointing at the Governor, Mr. Kumar said that even though Mr. Arlekar has been appointed by the Centre, he always respects him. The Chief Minister further asked him to monitor whether the Agriculture Road Map is functioning properly or not wherever he visits the State and instruct the official of the department concerned.
During his speech, Mr. Arlekar said that all the plans would continue to remain on paper if farmers are not made fully aware of the programme. He stressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of doubling the income of the farmers, and that can only happen if they are aware about the new technology of farming.
Altogether, 12 departments would be engaged in the execution of the fourth road map.
The production of wheat, maize, and rice has increased manifold since the first Agriculture Road Map. In 2008, the production of wheat was 23.35 quintal per hectare which has risen to 30.78 quintal per hectare. Similarly, the production of maize was 27.39 quintals per hectare which has not increased to 52.36 quintals per hectare.
Even rice production has increased from 12.37 quintals to 24.96 quintals per hectare by 2022. Not only rice, wheat and maize, even the production of milk, eggs and meat has also increased in Bihar after the Agriculture Road Map was implemented in Bihar.
