There is a big challenge in the field of agriculture: L Khyangte

Ranchi: Additional Chief Secretary of the Land Reforms and Revenue Department L Khyangte on Friday said that there is a big challenge in the Agriculture sector as dry days are increasing.

Addressing the Master Trainer Training Workshop for the State Level 11th Agriculture Census 2021- 22 organized in the new auditorium of the Project Building he said that water is becoming a major challenge and affecting agricultural production. If there is a lack of nutrition in the soil, then it also affects the food material therefore, there is a big challenge in the field of agriculture, he said.

The senior officer said that data collection of agricultural land is a very important task and it needs to be done with sensitivity however that said, soil has a lifespan and there is a limit to its production capacity. He said that there is a need to focus on how to save maximum water in agricultural production. 

Addressing the Additional Collector, Circle Officer, and other officials who came from all over the state, he said that as an administrator it is very important to understand the detail of agriculture because there is a lot of biodiversity in Jharkhand. There are also herbs, and quality trees here and they should also get a place in data collection also he said suggesting that there should also be a focus on how to prevent desertification in the state.

He said that along with traditional crops, farming will have to be done according to the season and nature of the land. He told the officials that it is necessary to do the work of agriculture data computation in time.

Secretary of Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation, Abu Bakr Siddiqui said in the workshop that if the standard of living of the farmers is to be raised, then planning is very important in the field of agriculture and data science is the basis for planning, therefore, data is an important part of the formulation of the development plan. He said that there is an era of crop diversion so new commercial production will have to be promoted.

During the agricultural computation, data of equipment, nature of land, fertilizer and irrigation system will have to be prepared, as well as the data will have to be collected after assessing the possibilities in the field of agriculture so that the nature of agriculture can be changed, he said. 

Emphasizing on organic farming he said that such villages panchayats blocks and districts should be identified in the state which use less fertilizer. If there is an area where the use of chemical fertilizers is less then there is a need to encourage that area for organic farming, he pointed. 

The purpose of the agricultural census is to describe the structure and characteristics of the agricultural sector on the basis of a number of operational holdings and area of operational holdings, land use, cropping pattern, input usage pattern etc. Also providing benchmark data up to tehsil, village level, which is essential for launching new agricultural development programs and evaluating their progress. 

To provide a statistical base of operational holdings for future agricultural surveys. This training program has been organized on the instructions of the Government of India with the aim of implementing the scheme and making the farmers financially self-reliant, the work of agricultural computation is being done.