|
|
|
|
Patna,(BiharTimes): Former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Tuesday paid his second visit to Paliganj in Patna district, to proclaim, and that too in Hindi, that this block would emerge as the hub of the second Green Revolution of the country. |
He said the farmers of Paliganj, 55 km from Patna district headquarters, are immensely contributing towards achieving a revolution in foodgrain productivity.
While addressing a meeting in Paliganj, the renowned scientist said that the farmers of this block started modern farming with 2.4 hectare of land in 1999 and extended it to 2000 hectare by 2004. During this period they used sound agriculture technology, quality seeds and input material, and thus have been able to demonstrate that the productivity of rice and wheat can be more than doubled in the five years time.
The former President said that this trend should continue and there was a need for making Bihar the granary of India.
Kalam said the net area under cultivation of grains in Bihar was around 56 lakh hectare and the average yields of rice and wheat was 1.45 and 2.19 tonne per hectare respectively. But the farmers of Paliganj have proved beyond doubt that they can produce at least four tonnes per hectare of paddy and six tonnes per hectare of wheat.
The missile man said that it is high time that the agriculture universities like Rajendra Agriculture University and other universities in the state work in partnership with farmers of Paliganj and the district development officers of all the 38 districts, so that the goal of
doubling the productivity of wheat and rice could be achieved within the next five years.
He said that the country has to bring about the second Green Revolution which would enable it to increase the foodgrains production from the existing 230 million tonnes per year to at least 340 million tonnes per year by 2020.
He warned that over the years, arable land would shrink in size and in addition, there would be shortage of water. The farmers have to work in partnership with agricultural scientists and technologists for doubling the productivity of foodgrains.
Kalam not only chose to give up English while addressing the people, but also went out of way to counsel them to keep away from the evils of alcoholism and gambling.
comments...
|
|
