Theog to host Kisan Mela

Two days Kisan Mela would be organized at Theog in Shimla district on 19 and 20 September,2017. Irrigation & Public Health and Horticulture Minister Smt. Vidya Stokes will inaugurate the fair.

Various departments including Horticulture, Agriculture, Horticulture University Nauni (Solan), World Bank aided Horticulture Development Project, HPMC, HIMFED and Agriculture Industries Corporation will put up exhibitions during the fair. These departments will also provide know how of latest agriculture techniques to the farmers besides selling their products.

Himachal bags Krishi Karman Award 2015-16

The Union Ministry of Agriculture has selected Himachal Pradesh for the Krishi Karman Award 2015-16 for commendable increase in food grains production.

A communication in this regard was received by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, an official spokesman said.

Virbhadra Singh congratulated the Agriculture Department for having being selected for this award for the third time andsaid that this feat had been achieved due to dedicated efforts of the department in extending technological inputs and services to the farmers which resulted in increase in food grains production.

State Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania said that during last five years, the total food grains production has increased from 14.94 lakh tone to 16.34 lakh tone.

Besides, the department has done considerable work in promoting poly-house cultivation, crop diversification, micro irrigation, organic farming and soil health management. The award would carries a trophy, citation and cash prize.

The state was also conferred the Krishi Karman Award for 2011-12 for increase in wheat production and in 2014-15 for increasing food grains production.

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Governor urges farmers to adopt zero budget natural farming

Governor Acharya Devvrat urged the farmers to adopt zero budget natural farming so that Himachal Pradesh emerged as the organic state in near future like Sikkim State which was declared organic state of the country.
The Governor was speaking in a seminar on organic farming organized by CSK, Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur at Karsog in Mandi district, today.
He said that it was the need of the hour to promote and adopt organic farming and said that it was possible only when every farmer rear domestic cow. He said that one cow could be helpful in farming 30 acres of land and added that it would improve the fertility of the soil, producing maximum yield by using minimum water and getting remunerative price of their product. He said that domestic cow was useful in every respect and with the help of traditional farming, revolution in agro sector could be generated.
He expressed concern that chemical fertilizers and pesticides had been introduced in the name of green revolution and in some extend it increased the production level but degrading the fertility of the soil and products so produced were harmful to the body. He added that some big companies were involved in exploiting the farmers.
The Governor said that number of diseases had increased due to excessive use of chemical farming. He said that best part of adopting natural system of farming was that it has no financial implication and the farmers would not have to outsource from the market as it was prepared naturally by the farmer himself.  He said that in natural farming, the farmers should be encouraged to rear domestic cow instead of hybrid one imported from abroad. He said that the cows found in hilly areas were significant in many ways. He said that to produce maximum or double agriculture crops in a limited area, process of natural farming should be adopted.
He appreciated the efforts of scientists of Agriculture University and members of Youth Sustainable Development for promoting organic farming in the state. He expressed happiness in visiting Karsog for the first time and said that people of the state were honest, hardworking, progressive and humble.
The Governor also appealed the farmers to adopt cashless economy.
The Governor also inaugurated exhibition put up by Agriculture University, Palampur and progressive Farmers of the State on organic farming. He took keen interest in organic products displayed in the exhibition.
Dr. Ashok Kumar Saryal, Vice Chancellor, CSK Agriculture University, Palampur honoured the Governor on the occasion and said that due to the adverse effects of chemical fertilizers and chemical products used in agriculture, organic farming was the only solution to improve the fertility of the soil and to produce of healthy agri products. He said that consistent efforts were being done by the University in this direction and said that it was among the few universities in the country who had established separate department of organic farming. He said that vast research work on organic farming was also being done in the university. Although, it was a challenging task, but our scientists were trying their best. He said that farmers camp were being organized throughout the state and every possible assistance and help was also provided to them. He thanked the Governor for sparing time in the seminar.
Dr. P.K. Mehta, Director, extension from Agriculture University also imparted knowledge of organic farming to the farmers. He also stressed upon local marketing and formation of self help groups. Dr. H.L. Sharma, senior scientist also briefed out the benefits, process and organic certification of organic farming and products.
Bihari Lal Sharma, Executive Director, Youth Sustainable Development also briefed out various activities being executed by YSD in the field of organic farming.
Dr. Pankaj Sood, Incharge, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sundernagar and J.P. Saini, Head of the Department, Organic Farming, Agriculture University, Palampur welcomed the Governor on the occasion. They also explained the merits of adopting organic farming and necessity of adopting organic farming in the present pretext.
Hiralal, former MLA, senior scientist from Agriculture University Palampur and Horticulture University, Nauni, progressive farmers of the Karsog area, senior officers and prominent people were also present on the occasion.

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Chief Secretary urges for liberal loaning in Agriculture & allied sectors

Chief Secretary V. C. Pharka asked the banks to encourage liberal loaning in agriculture, horticulture and allied activities to the farmers of the state. He was presiding over the 140th quarterly review meeting of State level Banker’s Committee,  here today.
Pharka said that under Annual Credit Plan-2016-17, a target of fresh credit disbursement of Rs. 18,213 crore by various banks in the state had been fixed. He said that agriculture and horticulture were the mainstay of rural people in Himachal and emphasised on further strengthening these sectors. He informed that the World Bank has approved ambitious Horticulture Modernization Project for Rs.1143 crore, implementation of which would be started soon.
Reviewing the performance of banking sector, Pharka informed that banks had disbursed loans of Rs. 14,043 crore during 2015-16 thus achieving 92 percent. He further added that the Banks have planned to disburse Rs.18213 crores in the current financial year with an increase of nearly 19 percent over the previous year. He emphasised on linking the aadhaar and mobile numbers to the bank accounts.
While appreciating the progress of Jan Dhan Yojna and Social Security schemes, Chief Secretary said that more than 10 lakh people had been covered under these schemes till date. Though he expressed concern over the declining CD ratio in the State, and said that it would affect the development of the State.  He said that it was the need of the hour to work in coordination with each other. He asked the private sector banks for providing liberal loans to the people in general for income generating activities and also for the development of the State , instead of focusing on deposit based banking.
He said that State Government was providing adequate thrust on employment to the youth and 65000 youth would be imparted training through Kaushal Vikas Nigam so as to enhance their employability.

Chief Secretary urged to open bank branches in rural and far flung un-banking areas of the State, besides opening more ATMs on National Highways and rural areas. In order to improve the CD ratio, he also urged the banks for providing big loans for Hydro projects, Tourism and Cold Stores.
Charan Singh, Executive Director of UCO Bank said that special attention was being given by banks for financing the Micro and small Entrepreneurs under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna and Stand Up India Scheme. He said that SC, ST and Women Entrepreneurs would be provided with loans of  Rs 10 lakh to one crore by all banks in the State.
General Manager , UCO Bank V.K Shrivastava  stressed upon massive awareness and financial literacy campaign to expand outreach of banking services.
Regional Director, RBI I.S. Negi directed the banks to open branches in unbanking villages in the State and strengthening of BCA mode of providing banking services in remote areas.
Additional Chief Secretary, Dr. Srikant Baldi, Senior executives, officials of various State Government departments, boards , Corporation and Banks were also present in the meeting.

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Himachal receives second National Award in Agriculture sector

Himachal Government has bagged another National Award in Agriculture sector for 2015-16. Hamirpur District of Himachal Pradesh has been selected for the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the excellence in implementing Soil Health Card Scheme. Government of India has identified four Schemes as priority Programmes viz Swachch Bharat, Gramin Swachch Vidyalaya, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and Soil Health Card. The District gets first prize in implementation of Soil Health Card Scheme among the Hill and North Eastern States. Only two districts in the country viz Hamirpur in HP and Balrampur in Chattisgarh are getting an award in Soil Health Card Scheme. The award will be given by the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Civil Service Day i.e. 21st April, 2016 in a National-level Function at Vigyan Bhavan. The award will be received by Deputy Commissioner Hamirpur and Deputy Director Agriculture, District Hamirpur. A cash amount of Rs. 10 lakh will be given to the Award winning District.

Himachal was recently awarded the National level ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for increase in total foodgrains production for the year 2014-15 in Category II States. The award was presented by the Prime Minister at a National-level Function at PUSA, New Delhi on 19th March 2016 and carried a cash award of Rs. 1 crore. It was received by Sujan Singh Pathania, Minister Agriculture HP; Upma Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture, HP and S.R. Kalia, Director Agriculture, HP.

The Soil Health Card Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on 19th February 2015 with the objective to issue soil health cards to all farmers of the country in three years based on standardised sampling procedures and analysis so as to provide a basis to address nutrient deficiencies in fertilization practices. Expected outcome of the programme was to promote integrated nutrient management through balanced and judicious use of plant nutrients and reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers.

Considering the importance of soil health, HP Agriculture Department took up the implementation of this programme in a very energetic, vigorous and focused manner. The target of 69635 samples  which were to be collected under the Scheme in three years have already been lifted by HP in the first year (2015-16) itself. Thus, HP has already achieved hundred percent lifting of samples in the very first year. Analysis of samples is being done simultaneously and 1,60,000 Soil Health cards have been distributed.

Government of India initiated a rigorous process to select high achievers under the Programme. The State Government recommended the names of Hamirpur and Bilaspur Districts for the award based upon their performance. Subsequent to visits by GOI  teams and detailed interactions, Hamirpur District has been selected for first prize in implementation of Soil Health Card Scheme among the Hill and North Eastern States. The District lifted hundred percent GPS based samples of the entire programme target in the very first year of the programme itself i.e. 2015-16. The distribution of Soil Health Cards to the farmers was started on 5th December 2015 which is observed as International Soil Day. It is proposed to distribute the Soil Health Cards to all the 76,140 farmers of the District by 30th June, 2016.

Agriculture Department organized farmers camps to generate awareness about the Scheme. The State has a network of 11 laboratories and 7 mobile testing vans to analyse the samples.

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Himachal receives Krishi Karman Award for increase in food grain production

Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania received Krishi Karman Award for 2014-15 from Prime Minister Narender Modi during a ceremony organized at New Delhi, today.

The award consists a trophy, citation and cash amount of rupees one crore.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture has selected Himachal Pradesh for the Commendation Award under Total Food grains category-II of Krishi Karman Award for 2014-15 in recognition of special efforts made by the State Agriculture Department for increasing food grains production.

This feat had been achieved due to dedicated efforts of Agriculture Department in extending technological inputs and services to the farmers.

During last three years, total food grains production had increased to 16.73 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 which was 15.41 lakh tonnes in 2011-12. The department had also done commendable work in promoting poly-house cultivation, micro irrigation, organic farming and soil health management.

Krishi Karman Awards were instituted by the Union Ministry of Agriculture in 2010-11 to reward the best performing States in production of rice, wheat, coarse, cereals, pulses and total food grains.

Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Upma Chaudhary was also present on the occasion.

Himachal vegetable cultivation reaps Rs 2,500 crore

As the off-season vegetable cultivation of Himachal Pradesh increased to 14.60 lakh tonnes, it has helped pushing its revenue to Rs 2,500 crore in the ongoing fiscal year, an official said on Sunday.

In the current kharif (monsoon) season, four lakh hectares have been covered under food grain and the target of production has been fixed at 8.85 lakh metric tonnes, a state agriculture department official said.

Himachal Pradesh annually earns about Rs 2,500 crore from the cultivation of vegetables, while horticulture generates more than Rs 3,200 crore annually.

The cultivation of exotic vegetables and flowers in poly-houses and setting up of controlled atmosphere chains is expected to add to the earnings for growers.

During this fiscal year, Rs 450 crore would be spent under various schemes to give a boost to agricultural production and increase the income of farmers, he told IANS.

The official further said, top priority is being accorded to crop diversification, for which Rs 66 crore will be spent. They have decided to continue coffee plantation on 10 hectares and extend weather-based crop insurance scheme to peas, tomato and ginger crops. This is being done as the state's agriculture and horticulture-based economy is highly dependent on the monsoon.

The state has approached Japan International Cooperation Agency for the second phase of crop diversification project under technical cooperation, he said.

The agriculture department will also implement four national programmes for which Rs 90 crore have been earmarked.

The state has launched several schemes to transform agriculture into agri-business, including the Rs 110-crore YS Parmar Swarojagar Yojana, the Rs 154-crore Rajiv Gandhi Micro Irrigation Scheme, and the Rs 20 crore Borewell and Lift Irrigation Scheme.

To provide compensation to the farmers and farm labourers in case of accidental injury or death, the state government has launched Mukhya Mantri Kisaan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jeevan Suraksha Yojna under which Rs 150,000 will be given in case of death while working on the farm or machinery, and Rs 50,000 in case of permanent disability.

Convocation of CSK Agriculture University Palampur held

Smt. Urmila Singh, Governor who is also the Chancellor of CSK H.P. Agriculture University, Palampur presided over the 12^th Convocation of the University today. Shri Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The Governor and Chief Minister awarded Masters’ and Doctoral Degrees, Certificates of Honour and Gold Medals to 317 meritorious students present on the occasion out of the total 686 students.

In her presidential address, Smt. Urmila Singh urged the students to keep themselves updated with latest knowledge besides upgrading their skills in order to face all kinds of upcoming challenges effectively in their profession. She said that in order to excel in the field, they should be experts of their subjects. She said that students should be confident and strive to develop a responsible attitude towards their profession and society as well so that we could have responsible and good future citizens.

The Governor said that research was very vital for the growth of agriculture sector and efforts should be made to strengthen this area and intensive research should be conducted for developing new varieties of crops suitable to different climatic conditions besides new techniques helpful for farmers. She said that there was a vast scope for crop diversification and off-season vegetables in the State and the University had significantly contributed towards strengthening the socio-economic standards of the farming community.

Felicitating all the degree recipients on the occasion, Smt Singh urged them to serve the State and Country with dedication through the profession and field they choose to adopt in future. Youth were nation builders in real sense and they play an important role in building a strong and vibrant nation, she added.

She also released a monograph on high precision farming on the occasion.

Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh while speaking on the occasion said that there was a need to develop region specific vegetable varieties for optimum production with low input. Main focus should be on growing vegetable crops, which fetch high market price nationally and internationally.

He said that diversification of crops has been the top priority of our Government and as consequence of implementing policies we have been able to increase the area under vegetable crops including off-season vegetables to about 68000 hectares with a production of 13.56 lakh metric tonnes.  This has brought economic revolution in rural area, he added.

Shri Virbhadra Singh said the growth of vegetable production and horticultural crops of the State was above national average and the State was producing more food grains than its requirement due to improved technologies. The fast adoption of new technologies like polyhouse farming and organic agriculture has further multiplied visibility of the State at the national level, he said. A large number of farmers have come forward to adopt vegetable production and there was need to develop region specific vegetable varieties for optimum production with low input. Main focus should be on growing vegetable crops, which fetch high market price nationally and internationally suggested the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said that water harvesting was another priority area of the Government and this should be the focus area for the scientists. The government had accorded high priority to the holistic and sustainable development of rainfed areas through integrated watershed development approach.  The State had also come out with Water Policy as water would be the scarcest resource in the near future, he added.

He advised the scientists to accelerate their efforts for crop improvement, natural resource management, crop production, crop protection, post harvest technology, plant biotechnology and give impetus to strategic research with precision. 

He said about 70 per cent farm operations were being performed by women in the State and  the State had taken a lead by organizing them to self help groups besides linking them with the bank-credit. 

He said that the government had opened educational institutions up to far-flung areas so that children could be able to excel in all competitions and serve the Country. He expressed happiness that this University was the most peaceful in the State.

 “I am not against the students activities in the higher centres of learning provided that they adhere to discipline and not resort in mischiefs” he said. The Government would ensure that even the teachers carry out their responsibilities in a dignified manner and not indulge in politics and the Government would soon come out with a legislation to debar teachers to participate in politics.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated Rs. 86 Lakh Solid Waste Management project at Surad in GP Lohana in Palampur.

He also laid foundation stone of foreign registration office at Dharamshala to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.60 crore.

Earlier, Dr. K.K. Katoch, Vice Chancellor CSK University of Agriculture, welcomed and honoured the Governor and Chief Minister and detailed about the activities being undertaken by the University. He said that the concepts of ‘Earn while you learn’ and ‘Experimental learning’ and ‘Plant Clinics’ have been introduced in the course curricula of the undergraduate programmes. He thanked the Chief Minister for granting additional financial aid to the University

 Shri B.B.L. Butail, Speaker, HP Vidhan Sabha, Shri Sujan Singh Pathania  Agriculture Minister, Shri Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development and Housing Minister, Shri Jagjeevan Pal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Shri Yadvendra Goma, MLA, Shri Kewal Singh Pathania, Vice-Chairman Forest Corporation Sh Gokul Butail, Advisor IT to Government of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Ratan Gautam, Registrar of CSK University of Agriculture, Senior scientists,  Faculty members, staff and Students of the University were present on the occasion.

Special Campaign on soil testing and seed treatment from 17th October

The spokesman of Agriculture Department said here today that the Department would launch a special campaign from 17^th October to 31st October, 2014  throughout the State for seed treatment and soil testing  in order to make the crops free from disease and insect-pest infestation and encouraging soil health management. During the campaign 25,000 soil samples would be tested and 50,000 quintals treated seed of Rabi crops would be distributed among farmers, he added.

He said that seed testing campaign would be run on the analogy of National Immunization and Pulse Polio campaigns and the objective of this campaign shall be to get rid off seeds of all crops infested with seed borne and soil borne diseases and insect pests. He said that demonstration were being arranged in farmer’s field for seed treatment techniques/method to show the visual effects to the farmers and farmers also being provided with treated seed of crops. In order to ensure the quality of agriculture inputs, 600 seed samples would drawn and tested at seed testing laboratories at Solan, Palampur and Mandi and in addition to this 1000 fertilizer samples, 150 insecticide  samples would be drawn and got tested, he added.

He said that the Agriculture Department has established 11 soil testing labs and has also deployed for mobile soil testing vans  for the benefit of farmers. He said that all types of chemical fertilizers, vermi compost, green manures and organic manures would be used in combined way to maintained soil fertility. During current Rabi season 28,000 tonnes fertilizer nutrients, 100 quintals bio-fertilizer were being distributed among farmers and assistance of Rs. 5000 was being given for the construction of vermi compost unit, he added.

Provide maximum benefit to the growers of the State:CM

Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh said that H.P. State Agriculture Marketing Board and Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) should work in coordination to provide maximum benefit to the growers of the State. He said that both these agencies were supposed to keep the interests of the farmers and horticulturists of the State.

Shri Virbhadra Singh was interacting with Chairmen and Members of H.P. State Agriculture Marketing Board and APMCs here last evening. He said that this year the apple crop was quite good but the growers did not get appropriate price as market crashed due to sudden glut in the Markets. He said that some farmers even sent their unripend apples which did not get good price. He said that Marketing Board and APMCs were not limited to the sale and purchase of agriculture and horticulture produce but they were suppose to teach and equip the growers about new market strategies, latest farming techniques, use of proper pesticides and fertilizers.

Chief Minister said that farmers should not depend upon single crop and fruits but should go for diversification as there was vast scope for off season vegetables, floriculture, herbiculture and other crops. He said that Himachal Pradesh had varied climatic and topography and our farmers should be taught to take benefit of it as the vegetables which grow in winter season in plains can be grown here during the summer season. 

Shri Virbhadra Singh said that stress was given to maintain and keep open all the roads during apple season to enable the growers to send their crops to the markets. He said that Government would make efforts to open more market yards and setup cold chains so that the apple crop could be stored for longer duration and sent to Mandies keeping in view the demand and rates. 

Chairman HP State Marketing Board Shri Subhash Manglet said that due to directions of Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh and persistence efforts of the Board the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi had given a land mark judgement, which had safeguarded the interest of farmers and orchardists of the State as now the six per cent commission would not be charged from farmers in Azadpur Market, Delhi. 

Member of Parliament Smt. Pratibha Singh, Agriculture Minister Shri Sujan Singh Pathania, Chairman Sports, Culture and Environment Association, Shri Vikramaditya Singh, Vice Chairman HP State Forest Corporation Shri Kewal Singh Pathania, Vice Chairman HP SIDC Shri Atul Sharma, Advisor Marketing Board Shri Devinder Shyam, MD HP Agriculture Marketing Board Shri H.S. Baweja, Chairman and Members of APMCs were present on the occasion.

Himachal Pradesh launches a 170 hectares project to expand apple industry

Himachal Pradesh, the country's main apple-growing region that is heading for a bumper crop this season, has launched a rejuvenation project spread across 170 hectares in a bid to expand the apple industry in the state, one of its principal revenue earners that gives employment to thousands of people.

The measure is expected to benefit nearly 350 apple growers initially and 10,000 growers in the long run. Private investment is being encouraged to set up storage facilities with a controlled atmosphere.

Under the Rs.85-crore apple rejuvenation project launched in 2012-13, Rs.24.36 lakh has been spent by the state horticulture department for replacing old and uneconomic apple plantations with improved, high-yielding varieties in 170 hectares, a government spokesperson told IANS.

The project aims to cover over a period of five years 5,000 hectares where plantation was done before 1960.

Apple constitutes about 93 percent of the total fruit production in the state. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, in his budget speech March 14, explained that the rejuvenation project would see the planting of new trees to replace old ones. He said the desired results were however not achieved because the project did not provide for the uprooting of old trees in plantations that were nearly 60 years old.

"Now, new guidelines, including uprooting of old plantation, will be issued so that apple growers can rejuvenate their old orchards," he said.

Director of state horticulture department Gurdev Singh said the old orchards had 250 to 300 plants per hectare; under the rejuvenation project, high-density plantations, ranging from 700 to 800 plants per hectare would be raised in phases.

Besides, improved varieties and rootstock of apple are being imported by the horticulture department from other countries. These are being multiplied at orchards run by the state horticulture department for distribution to growers.

The state government has so far imported 10,300 plants of apple varieties Scarlet Sur, Super Chief, Dorsett Golden and Anna from France, the spokesperson said.

Surveys of the state horticulture department say the productivity of apple ranges from 6 to 11.5 tonnes per hectare in the state, in comparison to 35 to 40 tonnes in more advanced countries.

Himachal Pradesh's apple boom is credited to Satyanand (Samuel Evans Stokes Junior), an American missionary, who first introduced high-quality apples in the Kothgarh-Thanedar belt in upper Shimla in the early 1920s. As per the estimates of the horticulture department, the state is heading for a bumper apple harvest this season after two consecutive years of less than normal yield of 25 million boxes.

A production of over 35 million apple boxes of 20 kg each is expected, which is approximately 765,000 tonnes, said the spokesperson.

So far, over 17.5 million boxes have been sent to various markets in the country, he said.

The area under apple cultivation in the state has increased from 3,025 hectares in 1960-61 to 104,000 hectares in 2011-12, which constitutes more than 48 percent of the total area under fruit cultivation.

Courtesy: IANS

State gets Rs. 72.27 crore for development of agricultural sector

The Government of India has allotted a sum of Rs. 72.27 crore to Himachal Pradesh under National Agricultural Development Scheme for development of agriculture sector during current financial year. 

Director, Agriculture, Dr. J.C. Rana disclosed here today that Rs. 58.21 crore would be spent on new and special schemes wile Rs. 14.06 crore on strengthening of ongoing schemes and development of resources. Provision had been made to spend Rs. 6.5 crore on promoting organic farming, Rs. 6.7 crore under Adarsh Krishi Gram Yojna, Rs. 4.16 crore on integrated crop diversification by vegetable production and Rs. 5 crore for irrigation sector. 

He said that State Agriculture Department would function as Nodal Agency for this scheme and Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Agricultural Research and Education Departments would also be entitled to get financial assistance under the scheme.