Farm fair at CRRI

Christened as Eastern Zonal Agricultural Fair, the meet was inaugurated by additional director general (ADG) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr R P Dua on Tuesday in presence of newly-appointed director of CRRI Trilochan Mohapatra.

Attended by over one thousand farmers from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha, the three-day fair would continue till tomorrow.

During the period, Kissan Goshthis would be formed in various fields of agriculture and there will be seminars and workshops on capacity-building on research priorities and strategies on rice production system for Second Green Revolution.

Farmers attending the fair are, however, sceptical about the benefits of the Green Revolution saying no amount of research by farm scientists would be able to solve the problems of food security in the country unless more arable land and water is made available for agriculture.

"Nevertheless, we are here to listen and see the new technologies developed by agricultural scientists and are hopeful that we would go from here getting some better ideas about agriculture," said a farmer from Jharkhand.

Speaking on the occasion, the ICAR ADG Dua, who is in charge of food and fiber crop said a holistic approach has to be made for ushering in Second Green Revolution with the active participation of farmers. "In order to achieve food security, farm productivity needs to be enhanced," Dua said adding farming in every sector has to be made profit oriented.