Rajasthan farmers meet Haryana innovators

Rajasthan farmers meet Haryana innovators
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, December 23
It was an assimilation of a novel kind - and quite a unique one. Fifty-odd farmers from the Nauhar area of Rajasthan met a group of progressive farmers of Haryana; and exchanged their views and ideas on the farming practices and techniques prevalent in their respective regions.

The Haryanavi farmers present on the occasion, most of whom were innovators and inventors of useful agricultural techniques, told about these to their Rajasthani counterparts. For instance, a local innovator, Tejvir, explained the functioning of an energy-saving pump developed by him which could lift water using less power.

The farmers from Rajasthan evinced keen interest in the techniques and shared their views and ideas with the Haryanavi farmers. They also told the local farmers about various effective agricultural practices used by them.

The Rajasthan delegation was led by Balbir Singh, deputy director (agriculture), Government of Rajasthan, while the assimilation programme was organised by HAFED, in collaboration with a local NGO, Srishti Gyan Kendra.

Local district manager of HAFED V.K. Sangwan took the visiting farmers on a visit to the cattle feed plant and informed them about different schemes and programmes being run by the Haryana government for the welfare of farmers.

The executive officer of the NGO, Kamaljeet, said the visiting farmers were shown a presentation depicting various path-breaking and efficient innovations made by agriculturists and others all over the country.

The Rajasthan farmers appreciated the painstaking efforts made by the volunteers of the kendra and invited them to their place so that they could get acquainted with the traditional wisdom and inventions as well.

UP farmer’s crop varieties a rage in Haryana

UP farmer’s crop varieties a rage in Haryana
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Farmer Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi shows a wheat variety, developed by him, in Rohtak on Saturday. — Photo Manoj Dhaka

Rohtak, January 19
Despite being visually impaired, Prakash Singh Raghuvanshi, a small-time farmer of Banaras, has shown way to lakhs of agriculturists across the country. Several wheat, paddy and mustard crop varieties developed by him have become a rage in many areas of Haryana.

On a mission to free the farming sector from market-dependence, he has distributed scores of self-developed high-yielding crop varieties among about 10 lakh farmers of many states.

Raghuvanshi’s efforts were acknowledged at the highest level last year when he was honoured by the then President Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, with a national award under the National Innovation Foundation.

“The farmers should adopt self-developed seeds and manure instead of depending upon external agencies like private companies for the basic farm inputs,” observed Raghuvanshi while talking to The Tribune here today.

“Seeds are produced in farmer’s field and not in any factory or laboratory,” asserted the visionary farmer, who has himself developed as many as 100 varieties of wheat, 10 each of paddy and arhar, besides those of several other fruit and vegetables. These crop varieties are getting increasingly popular in Haryana as well, with a number of farmers coming forward to adopt them.

“These crops are a class apart from the ones we had been using in our fields for long,” said Dinesh Kumar, a farmer from Manoli village in Sonepat district.

“Raghuvanshi’s crop varieties are also popular in Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Rohtak and many other parts of the state,” claims Kamal Jeet, executive officer, Sristi Gyan Kendra, Rohtak, which had invited the progressive farmer to the town.

The good results are now being authenticated, with agencies like the Indian Institute of Pulses Research, Banaras Hindu University and Kanpur University.

A Philanthropic Genius