Dr.Banarsi Lal
Every year the Farmers Day (Kisan Divas) is celebrated on 23rd of December to commemorate the birth anniversary of Choudhary Charan Singh, the ex-Prime Minister of India. He was primarily a farmer and his life-style was extremely simple. Choudhary Charan Singh is also known for the budget he represented in 1979.That budget was having everything that a farmer expects. He took initiatives for the welfare of the farmers and he united the farmers’ community against the landlords and money lenders throughout the country. He was a great writer and he penned down his great thoughts for the welfare of the farmers. He always tried to find out the solutions of various problems of the farming community. Choudhary Charan Singh passed on 29th of May, 1987 but his efforts for the farmers are still known. Charan Singh’s peasantry background helped him to understand the real problems of the farmers and he did his best to solve them. He was a son of soil and he contributed immensely to improve the situation of the farmers. Choudhary Charan Singh is credited to formulate and implement the Zamindari Abolition Act. Farmers Day is celebrated to recognize his valuable services rendered to the farmers of the country. Various agricultural institutions and farmers organize agricultural based programmes to pay homage to their beloved leader.
India is a land of villages and most of the people residing in the villages are farmers. Agriculture is the major occupation of the people and around 60 per cent of the population is directly associated with agriculture. Agricultural development is helpful for the overall growth and development of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of the people as it provides employment to more than half of the population of the country. This sector contribution signifies the dependency of the country on agriculture. The green revolution increased the agricultural production of the nation and India became self-reliant in many agro-commodities. But a lot is needed to improve the condition of the farmers as they are really the backbone of the country. Judicious use of land is necessary to mitigate the growing needs of the increasing population by keeping the sustainability of soils, ecosystems and environment in view.
The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) also known as Farm Science Centers, a gross root level scheme which was designed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the country. In 1964-66, the Education Commission of Government of India under the chairmanship of Dr.D.S.Kothari gave recommendations for the application of science to productive process including agricultural education. The Planning Commission of India and Inter-Ministerial Committee reviewed the recommendations. A committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta was constituted by the ICAR in 1973 which further gave the recommendations for the establishment of KVKs in the country. The first Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) was established in 1974 at Pudducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore by the ICAR, New Delhi. Presently, the ICAR has established 642 KVKs all over the country under different organizations like State Agricultural Universities, the ICAR institutes, Deemed Universities, Central Institutes, State Governments and NGOs. In Jammu and Kashmir ICAR has established 19 KVKs under two agricultural universities SKUAST-Jammu, SKUAST-Kashmir and one KVK under Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (CITH). These KVKs are mitigating the scientific agricultural needs of the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir. These KVKs are playing a pivotal role in transformation in rural areas by updating the rural people about the latest agricultural technologies. These KVKs are immensely playing a major role in farmers’ prosperity. The KVKs have proved their worth to mitigate the agricultural needs of the farmers. The KVKs empower the farmers through need-based farmers/ vocational trainings and helpful to change the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras conduct on- farm testing, identify the location specificity of agricultural technologies, lay out front line demonstrations to establish the production potential of various agricultural technologies at farmers fields, impart need-based and skill oriented training to the practicing farmers, in-service extensional personnel , to those who are interested for self-employment to update their knowledge and skills in new agricultural technologies, create awareness on improved technologies through various extension methods, produce and provide improved quality seeds, planting material, livestock, poultry, fisheries etc. to the farmers and work as agricultural knowledge centers for the public, private and voluntary organizations. These Kendras cater the needs of those who wish to be self-employed or those who are already employed. There is no particular syllabus for the Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The programmes and syllabus(action plan) of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras are tailored according to the needs, resources and potential for the agricultural growth in a particular area and is finally decided by involving the districts heads, Panches/Sarpanches and also progressive farmers of the respective district.
The prime objective of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras is agricultural growth. Priority is given to the weaker sections of the society like small, marginal, tribal farmers, agricultural labourers, drought prone areas, hilly areas, forest areas, coastal areas etc. and work-experience is the main method of imparting training. The first objective of the ICAR is to cover the entire country with one Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each district and priority is given to the backward areas. As there is a great demand for the improved agricultural technologies by the farmers so there is great demand of Krishi Vigyan Kendras throughout the country. Farmers need not only the latest knowledge of the technologies but also more skills in the agricultural operations for adoption.
Follow-up of extension programmes are conducted after trainings in order to get the impact of the trainings on the trainees and proper documentation of the programmes is important. It has been observed that with the introduction of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) the adoption rates of new agricultural technologies have been increased. Now, majority of the farmers are using hybrid/improved/high yielding varieties of maize, paddy, wheat, pulses, oilseeds etc. KVKs are diverting the farmers from subsistence farming to commercial farming. By keeping the scope of floriculture in the state floriculture industry in the state is spreading. Mushroom cultivation, sericulture, horticulture, dairy farming, vermicomposting, food processing, milk processing entrepreneurships are developed among the farmers in certain pockets of the state by the strenuous efforts of KVKs. These are the agricultural knowledge hubs in the respective districts.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel