Varanasi, February 4, 2010: The six-day second Annual Work Review Workshop of the National Agricultural Innovation Project funded by ICAR and World Bank concluded at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and farmers’ field of adopted villages.Prof. JS Bohra, Principal Investigator presented the overview of the project and emphasized that water harvesting structures at 15 locations of the project area were under construction with an investment of Rs 1 crore that would facilitate irrigation in 800 hectares.
Prof. Saket Kushwaha, Co-PI of the project said it was one of most ambitious projects of university and ICAR to help poor farmers with a fund of Rs. 7.00 crore, which will benefit about 3000 farmers directly covering total 3000 hectares of land in Sonbadhra and Mirzapur divisions.
There are five consortium partner Subha, Banvasi Seva Ashram, Sonbhadra, S.K. Jalan, Surabhi Sodh Sansthan, Mirzapur and Dr. D.S. Yadav, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research presented the progress reports of the project.
AS Tiwari, Bharti Lok Vikas Avam Shodh Sansthan, Mirzapur emphasized about the formulation of Self Help Group in the project. Dr RP Singh, Dean, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, highlighted the need for value addition of agro-products and marketing to enhance the income of the farmers.
Meeting was attended by Dr. Saket Kushwaha, Dr. Kalyan Singh, Dr. S.K. Singh, Dr. H.C. Sharma, Dr. S.N. Sharma, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Singh and Dr. Ram Kumar Singh.
After the workshop, Consortium Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting of the project was held in Cluster II of the Pahari Block of Mirzapur at Surabhi Shodh Sansthan, Dagamagpur. The meeting was chaired by CAC Chairman Dr. H.P. Singh, former Director, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad. Other members of the CAC Prof. S.R. Singh, Prof. H.C. Sharma, Prof. J.S. Bohra, Dr (Mrs) Ragini Prem, S.K. Jalan, Dr. Markandey Singh, Bal Mukund Lohia, Raj Kumar Singh, Chandra Singh and Kunwar Singh were present on the occasion.
Besides other things, the members resolved to recommend that one “Laser Land Leveler’ should be purchased for land leveling and enhancing the irrigation water use efficiency. It was decided to demand Rs. 15 Lakh to project Implementation Unit (PIU), NAIP, New Delhi for the purchase of laser land lever and its operation.
Moreover, to develop modules for landless and marginal farmers through poultry and goad keeping in each of the 33 villages of the 3 clusters under the project, a demand of Rs 9.00 lakh was approved.
The committee also approved the demand of Rs 70 lakh for the establishment fruit preservation centre in cluster II and to help the farmers in the storage of perishable items like tomato to avoid distress sale. Prof. RM Singh, Jata Shankar, A.S. Tiwari and Dr. D.N. Tripathi were also present in the meeting.
After the meeting, the members of CAC visited the water harvesting structures under construction in Pahari block.
CAC chairman, Dr. HP Singh along with Dr JS Bohra visited Sonbhadra to monitor the project activities in eight villages of Cluster I. Dr. H.P. Singh addressed the farmers assembled in village Pati and requested the farmers to help the fellow farmers of the neighbouring villages with the improved varieties of seed and the production technology that they had been getting under the NAIP sub-project.
Photo caption: Director, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, addressing the inaugural function of the work review workshop in Varanasi on Februay 4, 2010.
Source PPP Cell-BHU
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