After 44-long years of the establishment of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Manipur, the foundation stone for the new ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Imphal West building was laid on Saturday at ICAR research complex for North East Hill (ICAR-RC NEH) region, Manipur centre, Lamphelpat.
At the occasion, deputy director general (Natural Resource Management) of ICAR Headquarters, New Delhi Suresh Kumar Chaudhari said the foundation stone for the building construction was laid after 44 years of the institute’s establishment in Manipur.
He said ICAR is an institute which studies various plights which impact the agriculture and animal husbandry sector. ICAR tries to provide solutions to farming issues using scientifically proven methods, Suresh added.
"But ICAR-KVK has not been able to conduct timely research and provide solutions to the farmers due to shortage of manpower; there are states which have less than 10 staff in their respective ICAR-KVKs,” he said.
He pointed out that KVK is an institute which works on the ground level with farmers to update their knowledge on new agricultural researches and scientific advancements and highlighted that KVK delivers on the ground while ICAR provides the research and technological backing.
Suresh further stressed the need for all research to correlate with the ground issues of the farmers. “Even if the research and technology is of high calibre, it does not matter if it fails to resolve the immediate problems of the farmers,” he said.
He exuded confidence that the agriculture sector in Manipur would progress by leaps and bounds if the Central Agriculture University (CAU), ICAR and KVK strived collectively.
Suresh emphasised that all knowledge and methods of new agriculture and animal husbandry should be imparted to the farmers in a timely manner. There are problems that are specific to women farmers which also need to be resolved, he added.
He stated that ICAR and its subsidiaries play a vital role in invoking and making the youths interested in agriculture. “There are certain roles in which the youth can aid farming,” he said.
Suresh highlighted the measures to make the youths involved in the agriculture sector and stated that skill development programmes and entrepreneurial development programmes could aid in the venture.
A farmer-scientists’ interaction was also held on the same day at the venue. During the interaction programme, farmers interacted with experts and raised various concerns regarding their plights to the scientists.
ICAR-RC for NEH Region, Umiam, Meghalaya director V K Mishra; ICAR governing body member Khangembam Nabakumar Meitei and numerous farmers from different corners of Manipur took part in the event.
