Agriculture Dept introduces new initiatives to promote the cultivation of Nutri-Cereals

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare released the new initiatives taken by the government to promote the cultivation of Nutri-Cereals which focused on to promote the cultivation of Sorghum, Pearl millet in the district.

Sorghum and Pearl millet will be featured in the district this year, said an official.Farmers will be given seeds, biofertilisers and funds to prepare fields.

The department will distribute 29.5 tonnes of high-yielding varieties of sorghum seeds. The demo plots will be set up in visible and accessible farms of active farmers in all the 12 blocks of the district to create awareness.

The government expects a bigger crop of Nutri-cereals–Bajra, Jowar and Ragi–as it has over 45,000 tonnesseeds for sowing in 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) Kharif season, a near 14% surplus, a senior government official said on July 3.

"The government has adequate availability of Nutri-cereals seeds. It has 45,544.5 tonnes seeds, 5,631.6 tonnes more than the requirement for upcoming Kharif season," the official said.

These are good quality certified seeds given to farmers through KrishiVigyanKendras and agricultural universities across the country, he said. However, since the quantity of seeds provided by the government sometimes is unable to meet demand, farmers use their seeds even if they are not of good quality.

Farm universities, KrishiVigyanKendras and seed cooperative societies typically notify the central government regarding the number of seeds required by farmers.

The government has 24,549.8 tonnesBajra seeds for the next Kharif season, higher than the required 22,882.7 tonnes, Jowar seeds are 16,465.4, up from required 14,143.0 tonnes, while Ragi seeds are 4,529.3 tonnes, up from required 2,887.2 tonnes, the official said.

Farmers had sown Jowar across 1.67 mln ha in 2019-20 Kharif, against 1.76 mln ha a year ago, farm ministry's data showed. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana are the major growers of Jowar.