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Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Bihar visited the BISA research station at Samastipur, Bihar. Dr. Alok Ranjan Ghosh, Director, the Department of Agriculture, Bihar also accompanied him during this visit. They both first visited the DSR Rice fields of farmers Bhola Kumar and Pappu Kumar at village Bajitpur, block Fatehpur, district Vaishali. They interacted with the farmers and took a keen interest in knowing about the condition of the crop, the challenges of the farmers and their expectations from the Government of Bihar. Farmers expressed that this year their expected yield will be 28.60 quintals/acre as per the present crop situation of their fields.
Post the farmer field visit a brief presentation on the Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) project & a farm visit was organized at BISA station in Samastipur. Delegates interacted Dr. Raj Kumar Jat, senior cropping system agronomist and station In-charge, and other scientists at the farm. Dr. Agarwal took a tour of the farm and looked very excited to see the innovative and sustainable agricultural practices being implemented at BISA.
Dr. Jat described the ongoing modern scientific approaches through research & development being used to counter the changing climatic situation by BISA. They visited the plots of different technologies and different crops like soybean, cowpea, millet, and groundnut.
Dr. Agarwal appreciated the efforts of BISA in the field of Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) and applauded the vital role being played by BISA, Samastipur in research for development. He said ” Sowing at the right time is very important for farmers. Timely sowing helps in good production of any crop”. He also added that “BISA’s role as a catalyst is commendable and I appreciate their work in CRA with the other partners which is reaching out to the farmers with the climate resilient agriculture technology and practices”.
Dr. Agarwal, enquired about crop diversification options in south Bihar that can replace the Paddy-Wheat Cropping system at least by 50% with different crops like soybean, cowpea, millets, groundnut etc. He also planted a Mango sapling (Var.Amrapali) on the premises of BISA as a token of appreciation and a commitment towards a green and healthy environment. Dr. Jat gave an overview of the ongoing digital agriculture project which provides a one-stop solution with a mobile app for crop health monitoring. He also gathered information regarding the standardization of drone spraying by applying different replicas of doses (75%,100%,125%) & at different heights of drone spraying from the crop canopy at BISA Farm. Not only this but an agrochemical spray demonstration through a drone spraying system was also done in his presence.