Assam Agriculture Minister Pijush Hazarika participated in the National Conference on AgriStack under the Digital Agriculture Mission and Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses at the ICAR Convention Centre, Pusa, New Delhi on Saturday.
Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed the progress of Farmer IDs under AgriStack and the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, with participation from States and Union Territories.
Addressing the conference, Minister Hazarika highlighted Assam’s progress in pulse cultivation, including Arhar demonstrations, black gram cultivation and Front Line Demonstrations. He stressed the potential of rice-fallow areas and char and chapori belts for expanding pulse cultivation.
The Minister highlighted challenges faced by Assam’s small and marginal farmers due to floods and erratic rainfall and requested priority allocation of breeder seeds suitable for the North Eastern region.
Hazarika also requested 100 per cent subsidy on certified pulse seeds for farmers in Assam for an initial period of two to three years, particularly to support small and marginal farmers and encourage new farmers to take up pulse cultivation. He also proposed that certified seed allocations may alternatively be utilised for Seed Minikit Distribution.
Hazarika further requested that Assam’s small tea growers, who have now started receiving Farmer IDs under AgriStack, be brought under the ambit of PM-KISAN so that they can also avail the benefits of the scheme.
The Minister also highlighted Assam’s initiatives under AgriStack, including high-yield village clusters, post-harvest infrastructure, Custom Hiring Centres and integration of Soil Health Card data with Farmer Field Schools.
