Nitish chairs agriculturists� meet in Bihar; exchanges

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday chaired a meeting here of agriculturists drawn from

across the state where suggestions were exchanged for giving a boost to farming, dairy production, fisheries, poultry,

horticulture and other associated activities. At the meeting which was held inside the Chief Ministers

Secretariat, Kumar expressed delight at the sight of a large number of young people turning up as delegates.

He said it was indicative of the new generation taking a greater interest in agriculture which was vital for the state

which had its economy heavily dependent on the sector. The Chief Minister underscored that 80 per cent of the

states population lived in villages and agriculture happened to be the source of livelihood for 78 per cent people, a

reason why his government accorded top priority to bringing amenities like roads and electricity to the rural areas.

The CM also spoke of his governments initiative of providing better quality seeds to farmers and efforts to give

a boost to the production of fruits like "magahi" betel leaf, zardalu mango and "shahi" litchi which are considered a

specialty of the state. Paying rich tributes to the agriculturists of the state,

Kumar recalled a visit of Nobel prize winning American economist Joseph Stiglitz who had remarked, upon seeing

peasants in his home district of Nalanda involved in organic farming "the farmers here are more capable than agriculture

scientists". The state government is encouraging organic farming in a

big way. It is being undertaken in 13 districts and is a step in the direction of achieving the dream of ensuring at least

one Bihari dish on every Indians plate, he said. He also disclosed that keeping in mind the challenges

thrown by climate change, crop rotation has been introduced in eight districts and a move was afoot to spread it further.

The Chief Minister also apprised the farmers about the Jal Jeevan Hariyali campaign an ambitious environment

conservation drive that aims to combat climate change and spread across the message that life depended on water and

green cover. The meeting was also attended, among others, by Deputy CM

Sushil Kumar Modi, state ministers for water resources and industries Sanjay Jha and Shyam Rajak respectively besides top

officials including Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar.