Nadia is among the most fertile, and better irrigated districts, and in the first flush of monsoon, the fields on both sides of the national Highway were green : vast stretches of well grown stalks of jute , broken with patches of paddy seedlings. The discussions in the Innova was on BGREI – the introduction of hybrids for raising the productivity had to be seen in the context of the geographical terrain, cultural practices, seed availability and ‘milling capacity/markets’ for paddy. So far, procurement had never been a serious issue as the state was just about self sufficient in rice, but if production went up substantially, and a procurement system was not in place, the farmers would not get a fair recompense for their produce. The Secretary Agriculture, Sh Hridyesh Mohan, who also holds the additional charge of the Agri-marketing department has been toying with the idea of setting up a Procurement agency , and this would be an important intervention. On a general note, BGREI will have to take this factor into account for other states as well. The reason GR had succeeded in Punjab was that farmers were assured that whatever they produced would be procured – and they could see the physical infrastructure in the shape of FCI godowns and rice shellers come up before their own eyes . A well oiled procurement agency, and modern rice mill had to work hand-in-hand.
The first halt was at the office of Assistant Director of Agriculture, Ranaghat-II Block of Nadia. Various agriculture inputs, including seeds, micro nutrients, zinc etc were lying in the office, and obviously there was some delay in receipt and distribution. This is a proverbial problem. The seed corporations are never in a position to supply the seeds on time , and when seeds are provided, the mciro nutrients/supplemts are not available as per the scheduled dosage , and on time.
After a ‘pep-talk’ and a brief explanation on how the Agri Department officers had to lead from the front in the BGREI, the team visited Nokari mouza, the site of the 1000 ha.Compact Paddy D.C.under Extended Green Revolution,2011-2012. It was a beautiful view , for typically, most D.C.s in the state had been on small patches, and an experiment on such a scale had never been done before !
Met some of the progressive farmers engaged in the above programme, namely Prakash Ghosh, Ranjan Ghosh, Madhusudan Ghosh (Ghosh Para !) and learnt that they were excited with the scheme, as the seedlings were in very good condition. Line sowing had been done, and there was an animated discussion in colloquial Bengali on whether it was worth the extra effort or not. The jury finally gave its verdict in favour of line sowing …over time, it would require less effort as farmers would get into the practise . There was with no incidence of pest or disease . Also saw land preparation for transplanting in the surrounding areas, and noted that in some areas, transplanting had started already. They were happy with the seedlings, but wanted that other inputs should have been provided as well.
Their refrain was about the falling process of jute, and wanted some intervention. They were assured that the matter would be taken up with the JCI and the District Adminstration. This officer was not certain whether of jute had been included in the list of commodities on which a Warehouse Receipt could be issued. This needs to be taken up with the JCI.
One could have stayed longer, but the drizzle was taking the shape of a downpour, and one had to move on .The next scheduled halt before lunch was at the office of the Deputy Diretcor of Agriculture, where all the officers of the agriculture and horticulture department had congregated. Thus it was a good opportunity to interact with them about their perceptions with regard to the programme , and the steps to improve the function. According to the field level officers, acceptance of newer varieties would eb better if seed treatment chemical and micro nutrients were supplied well in advance. Farmers were never confident about the credibility of the WBSSC to supply inouts on time. One of them remarked, (much to the consternation of the senior officers present : if the department can’t forward GOs on time, how can they expect seeds to reavh farers before the planting season ! A pithy remark …but one which the the Agricultre Secretary will have to take note of.
The Assistant Directors, especially those incharge of blocks, chipped in with their valuable suggestions. Regarding human resource development, a suitable module may be developed to train up all the farmers involved under the scheme. Given the shortage of extension staff, progressive farmers could be empowered as ‘Resource Persons’ for others in their vicinity. As mobile phones were becoming ubiquitous, farmers participating in the BGREI could get a ‘feed-in’ at regular intervals. Even though every district had a District Agriculture Information officer, his mandate was to ‘collect information’ , on crop and weather conditions, and report any incidence of pests and diseases. It was suggested that he should not just collect and forward information , he should also take an active role in ‘communicating’ with the farmers, especially about development interventions, and how the farmer could access these. Besides, short films on line sowing, zero till and appropriate use of fertilizers could be shown during the visits of officers. KVK and SAU could prepare a CD with specifc reference to this district.
Officers also suggested that to the extent possible, utilization of locally available certified seed shouls be given priority. Seeds were being produced by the SHGs, Farmers’ Club (Bank), Joint Liablity Group (Nabard),NGOs and Co-operatives under close supervision of seed certifying agency under various programme. This could also generate additional employment in the rural areas.
After a working lunch organized by the DM at the Circuit House, ( which has really improved) , the team, which now included Sanjay Bansal, the DM, visited the office of Bhanderkhola Gram Panchayat in Krishnagar Sadar Sub-Division. Field visit was impossible on account of the downpour, and therefore farmers had assembled in the Panchayat.
Farmers were of the view that the scheme was good, and it would enhance the productivity of paddy. However, they complained that the farm gate price of paddy, jute had crashed, whereas the costs of agricultural inputs, especially fertilzer and diesel price had touched the roof, thereby making farming unprofitable. They suggested that fertilizer prices should be brought under the ‘control regime’, and diesel subsisdy scheme re-introduced . They also reported about the dysfunctional Deep Tiubewellss, which the DM promised to llok into immediately. The DM also clarified that the services of “Nirman Sahayak” working in each Gram Panchayat may be availed by the implementing authority towards excavation/re-excavation of ponds/ditches, irrigation channels under the RKVY, NFSM, BGREI and NHM programmes.