Nabard plans pilot project on sustainable agriculture

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is planning to undertake a pilot project on sustainable agriculture for providing end-to-end solution to the farmers and impart technical knowledge for increasing production and enhancing marketing skills.

The West Bengal regional office of Nabard plans to undertake the project in six districts of the state. It has identified three districts --South 24 Parganas, Cooch Behar and Darjeeling--and plans to tie up with agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) for the purpose, said P Mohanaiah, chief general manager, Nabard.

“We are undertaking a pilot project in these districts to start off with, this will be a crop specific and area specific programme. We will tie up with various agricultural universities and KVKs to provide information regarding various aspects of agriculture such as soil health, quality of seeds and agricultural marketing among others,” Mohanaiah on the sidelines of a press conference here today.

Each project would entail an investment of about Rs 50 lakh and Nabard, West Bengal intended to undertake half a dozen of such projects this year, he said.

“This will be a three year project and we are hopeful that there will be a 30-40 per cent enhancement in farmers’ income post this project,” he said.

“Close to 2,000-2,500 farmers will be identified and provided training in specific skills,” he added. Nabard has also tied up with Vivekananda Biotechnology Institute in Sunderban, Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Cooch Behar and Farmers’ Club Association in Darjeeling to provide technical know-how to farmers.