Ten MoUs signed during ICAR-RCER industry meet in Patna
ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, Patna (ICAR-RCER, Patna) along with its Research Centre, Farming System Research Centre for Hill and Plateau Region (FSRCHPR), Ranchi; two Krishi VigyanKendras, (KVK, Buxar and KVK, Ramgarh) organized an ‘Institute Industry Meet’ on September 24, 2024 in order to bridge the gap between ICAR institutes and Agricultural Entrepreneurs in the eastern region of India. More than 30 entrepreneurs from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra participated in the meet and had an interaction with the scientists belonging to various agricultural disciplines.
Taking pride on the steps, Dr Anup Das, Director, ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region, highlighted important technologies which are ready for commercialization by the Institute. Some of the technologies like grafted tomatoes, climate resilient rice varieties, fruit and vegetable varieties and multitier cropping system for rainfed uplands developed by the institute hugely attracted the participating entrepreneurs. Dr Anup Das further elaborated that these technologies are not only meant for supporting the entrepreneurs through employment generation but also help enhancing the agricultural productivity in the eastern region and thereby bringing glories in the life of every stakeholder.
ShriVK Sinha, the Chief General Manager of NABARD and the chief guest of the programme, lauded the efforts of ICAR for multi-fold enhancement in agricultural productivity across the country. He further emphasized that the technology which are developed should be affordable to become sustainable. He also highlighted the role of NABARD in supporting various technologies in the Eastern region and assured that NABARD is committed to take agriculture forward in Bihar along with new ideas and innovations.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bikas Das, Director, ICAR-National Research Centre on Litchi, Muzaffarpur, emphasized the need for providing skill based training to the entrepreneurs to reduce the gap between farmers’ selling price and the customer price of agricultural commodities. Dr KG Mandal, Director, ICAR-Mahatma Gandhi Integrated Farming Research Institute, Motihari, advised for group farming or corporate farming to expand the application of technologies developed by ICAR institutes. Further strengthening these ideas, Dr Anjani Kumar, Director, Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute, Patna, suggested value addition for sustaining the technology in the long run.
Dr Umesh Singh, Dean, Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology, spoke on the need for sustainable technology to bridge the gap between milk availability and requirements in the Eastern region. Explaining the role of Bihar Agriculture Management & Extension Training Institute in imparting training to the farmers of Bihar in various agriculture and allied sectors, its Director, Shri DP Tripathi thanked the ICAR institutes for the support provided in the training programme. He also stressed the need for the techniques to reach the grass root level for enhancing the living standards of the farmers in the Eastern region.
During the event, 10 Memorandum of Understandings, with respect to different varieties, new technologies and models, were signed between ICAR-RCER, Patna and different industries/ Enterprises for a nominal total cost of rupees six lakh as the major objective is to spread advanced technologies developed by the institute for ensuring sustainable development across the eastern region.
The enterprises which signed MoUs with ICAR-RCER, Patna include Phal Udyog Nursery, Ranchi, Green Garden Enterprises, Ranchi and Green Garden Landscape & Horticulture Pvt. Ltd, Ranchi for varieties such as Florida Prince of Peach, Swarna Madhu of Litchi and Swarna Vasudha of Bael;Jeevanmarshal FFED Farmer Producer Company Ltd, Jamui, BhartiyaLokKalyanSansthan, Ranchi and Maharashtra PrabodhanSeva Mandal, Nasik for new technologies like grafting in tomato and multitier cropping system for rainfed uplands. Memorandum of Agreements were also signed under agri-startups for herbal tea blend technology between ICAR-RCER, Patna andEcolife India Ltd,Hajipurand for amino acid fertilizer from hairs between ICAR-RCER, Patna andMyrika Agro Pvt Ltd, Ranchi.
During the occasion, an innovative entrepreneur Shri Shravan Kumar, narrated his story and his association with the institute through which he gained knowledge on nursery making of different horticulture crops and runs his firm with the total annual turnover of around Rs.10 crores at present. A lady entrepreneur from Ranchi, Albina Ekka informed that the support she received from the institute helped her preparing and marketing of herbal medicine and the enterprise gives her an annual profit of Rs.10 lakh. A method demonstration on ‘Grafted Tomato Technique’ by a lady farmer was the centre of attraction during the programme and this new technology is believed to produce disease free tomato cultivation in the vast area of eastern region and bring bumper tomato yields in the coming years.
The programme was ended with the vote of thanks by Dr AK Singh, Head, FSRCHPR, Ranchi.