A one-day workshop and training programme was organized on Monday in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, a millet hub by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The motive was to motivate farmers to actively participate in the agriculture export industry of millets from the State.
During the programme, around 50 proactive farmers from neighboring districts and licensed merchants from all across the State exchanged opinions. Other attendees at the meeting included representatives from the Agriculture Department and Krishi Vigyan Kendra. District Agriculture Officer AK Sinha, NABARD DDM Ravishankar also participated in the training programme.
At the conference, it was thoroughly addressed how to market millet farmed by the farmers in the district to other countries. Speaking as one of the keynote speakers and a progressive farmer, Professor BK Jha of Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) stated that the need for such programmes to raise farmers' incomes is great because the coming together of numerous agencies, such as APEDA, various government departments, and private entities, gives farmers an a plethora of opportunities and guarantees that they will have higher chances to do so.
According to Jha, although Gumla is renowned as the State's millet production center and that the farmers in the district work hard to grow various types of millet there, they do not receive a fair price for their goods because of a variety of factors, including a lack of a market.
He also stated that the farmers' economic situation will improve if the crops of the farmers are sold at the correct price in the marketplaces. Additionally, he asked that APEDA launch an immediate awareness campaign among farmers.
The businessmen who attended the conference and spoke on behalf of the farmers said that the farmers in the block cultivate crops organically, but still the quality needs to be improved and that extra care must be taken before it is exported to other nations.
Speaking at the event, the business development manager for APEDA, explained the program's goals and stated that similar initiatives are being put together to support state exports. She claimed that Jharkhand's farmers are extremely diligent, working hard to raise a range of millet crops in their fields. She noted that farmers are being informed about exporting some of the important commodities they grow.
According to the business development manager, APEDA is essentially an export promotion organization that reports to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Government of India. Its main goal is to promote the export of important crops produced by farmers.
