M.L.A R.S Pura Dr. Gagan Bhagat inaugurated the awareness camp on the “Seed Village Program” (S.V.P) at Village Khour of R.S Pura Constituency, being organized by the department of Agriculture and funded by the Union Agriculture Ministry. Addressing a jam packed gathering of farmers and villagers in the Community hall at Village Khour, Dr. Gagan Bhagat said that seed is the starting point of agriculture and dictates ultimate productivity of other inputs. Good quality seed alone increases the yield by 15-20 per cent. To meet the potential challenge of catering to the food need of 1.4 billion people of our country by 2025, a quantum increase in agricultural productivity is very much essential and hence production and distribution of high quality seeds of improved varieties/ hybrids to the farming community is becoming increasingly important. The expansion of agriculture under tropical conditions due to the improvement of cultivars with juvenile period imposed a scientific and technological challenges concerning the seed production under different environmental conditions. Dr. Gagan further said that the Seed Village Program aims at upgrading the quality of farm saved seeds and ensures supply of quality certified seed of notified varieties to the farmers in time at their places at affordable prices besides ensuring quick multiplication of new seed varieties in a shorter time in that area based on the crop situation. The government of India has set up a Seeds Bank in 1999-2000 during the tenure of NDA. The core idea is to meet the contingency in seeds demand in the country. The Seeds Bank Scheme is being implemented through National Seeds Corporation, States Farms Corporation of India and 12 State Seeds Corporations in the country. He maintained that majority of people of R.S Pura belongs to farming community and the Union as well the State Govt. is trying to improve the agriculture production, and this can only be archived if the farmers gets proper guidance from the experts of the agricultural department. He directed the officials present in the awareness camp to be readily available to the farmers and hold interactive sessions at Mohalla levels and prepare a work done report every month, which will be monitored in the monthly meeting of R.S Pura Constituency. S.D.A.O Farooq Bhat while speaking said that the seed village program (SVP) includes the participation of state government, SAU system, public sector, cooperative and private sector institutions. With the best efforts of all these organized sectors, only 15-20 per cent of the total requirement of quality seed is being met with. In most, kind of seeds, the farmers depend on their own farm saved seeds for crop production which needs certain basic practices of selection of good seeds for sowing.There is vast scope to produce and distribute quality seeds in these corps for which seed village concept is a noval and highly practical approach.On the occasion S.D.A.O Farooq Bhat, A.E.O Sagar Chand Sharma ,Asst.A.E.O, V.A.E.A’s of the department , B.D.O Miran Sahib Naresh Kumar,B.J.P Mandal Pradhan Miran Sahib Devendra Sharma, T.S.O Miran Sahib T.R Khajuria, S.H.O Miran Sahib Pawan Kumar,Ramesh Lal, Ashok Salaria, Bishan Dass, Harbhajan Singh and others.
