Krishi Unnati Mela 2019: Schemes to Empower Women Farmers Announced by Central Government

National Agricultural Fair “Krishi Unnati Mela 2019” is being organised from March 5 till March 7, at IARI, Mela Ground, PUSA New Delhi, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.  

Spread over an acre of land, the three-day long agricultural Mela started yesterday. Krishi Unnati Mela 2019 marks the presence of Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, ICAR Director General, Shri Sushil Kumar, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR), Dr. Anand Kumar Singh, DDG (Horticultural Science), Dr. Joykrushna Jena, DDG (Fisheries Science), Dr. Narendra Singh Rathore, DDG (Agricultural Education), Shri Bimbadhar Pradhan, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor (DARE/ICAR), Dr. J.P. Sharma, Joint Director (Extension), IARI and Dr. Shiv Prasad Kimothi, ADG (TC). 

Krishi Unnati Mela 2019 depicts the plethora of vivid technologies, techniques and machineries necessary for a farmer’s agricultural fields. The farmers’ will be attended and provided with the prompt solutions to the different agricultural and production-related queries and problems.  

Dr. Mohapatra applauded the institute’s efforts of organizing such knowledge gaining event for the agricultural and farming community in his inaugural address. The Director General also highlighted about the various achievements made not only in the field of agriculture and farming, but also in many different fields of allied sciences as well by the ICAR and its dedicated team. 

He lauded the PUSA’s contribution in making the country food-sufficient in its real terms and highlighted the ICAR’s mandate to achieve and realize the Prime Minister’s aim to double-up the farmer’s income by the Year - 2022. 

He further emphasized on the efforts that needs to be taken promptly in order to promote the practices of precision farming on a large scale across the agricultural and farming community of the country. There is also a need for the promotion of censor-based irrigation like facilities too that can truly come fruitful in lessening down the burden of farming community and increase their productivity in a long run, said Dr. Mohapatra. 

He said this Mela is deemed to be a three-day long exuberant agricultural extravaganza that will really prove to be helpful for the farmers by providing them with an ample opportunity to interact and get their agriculture and farming-related doubts and problems solved by the concerned scientists. 

Dr. A.K. Singh, DDG (Agricultural Extension) & Director, IARI in his welcome address, underlined the various activities and programmes to be held during the three-day long Krishi Vigyan Mela - 2019. He accentuated that the agricultural Mela is one of the best place for the exchange of various technologies of agricultural and farming communities.  

According to him, Mela is like a Kumbh where all the experts of the different fields of agriculture, farming, technologies, policies, etc., meet, share and exchange their valuable expertise in the particular areas of research with each other. 

Dr. Singh highlighted the Agricultural Mela will set-up various stalls to sell the new PUSA Basmati Rice Seeds and various other horticultural and floricultural flora, etc. 

The different stalls to display and sell the vegetables, flowers, farm-equipments, seeds of high yielding varieties of crops, saplings and seedlings by IARI and other public and private organizations, soil and water testing facility, etc., will be put-up. 

Interestingly, this year, the main attraction of the Mela will be the Farm Women Empowerment. Keeping in line with the PM Narendra Modi’s vision to empower the women groups involved in agriculture and farming, the Mela will depict various schemes being announced by the central government to realize the aim.