Farmers given tips at kharif campaign in Buxar

Buxar: A one-day district-level kharif mega campaign was launched at Nagar Bhawan here on Monday under the aegis of the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA).

The programme was inaugurated jointly by district magistrate Sahila and deputy development commissioner (DDC) Niharika Chhavi.

Addressing farmers, the DM said the campaign aims to ensure the overall development of farmers. She described climate change as a major challenge for agriculture, noting that rising temperatures, heatwave and natural disasters are adversely affecting crop production. In view of these challenges, she stressed the need for crop diversification.

She directed agriculture extension officials to organise regular evening ‘kisan chaupals’ in villages to spread awareness about schemes of the agriculture department and allied sectors among farmers and public representatives. She also asked officials to resolve farmers’ grievances in coordination with the departments concerned.

Highlighting the importance of soil health cards, the urged farmers to use fertilisers only as per the recommendations mentioned in the cards. She said this would help maintain soil fertility and increase farm income.

The DDC said indiscriminate use of fertilisers is affecting both agricultural practices and crop productivity.

She appealed to farmers to follow soil health card recommendations for balanced fertiliser use, which would improve yields while conserving soil health.

District agriculture officer Dharmendra Kumar briefed participants on various schemes being implemented during the kharif season. He elaborated on programmes such as the agriculture mapper, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, digital crop survey and farmer registry.

He said block-level kharif mega campaigns will be organised at all block headquarters in the district from June 10 to 22. In addition, an “Agriculture public welfare chaupal-cum-save the farm” campaign will be conducted from June 11 to 30.

Kumar said these initiatives would help farmers learn about modern agricultural technologies and scientific farming practices from experts, enabling them to achieve higher productivity through technology-driven agriculture.