News @ Jains - DRIP IRRIGATION IS NEED OF HOUR – Chandrababu Naidu

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian Economy and 66% population is dependent on agriculture. There are very good resources in Uttar Pradesh, however, these resources need to be utilized properly and there is a good scope for development of Agriculture in Uttar Pradesh. Around 76% of the available land area is irrigated in Uttar Pradesh. Soil and water are very important resources in Agriculture. Soil is very fertile in U.P. Sufficient water is also available. However, growth of agriculture in U.P. has been abysmally slow. There is a need of adoption of Hi-tech irrigation techniques like Drip Irrigation, Tissue Culture, Hybrid Seeds etc. Adoption of Drip Irrigation is need of the hour now for better yields and superior quality of horticultural and cash crops. T.D.P.Chief, Shri Chandrababu Naidu, expressed his views during the inauguration ceremony of Agri-Expo 2006 at Lucknow on 11th February 2006. Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav, Hon’ble Chief Minister of U.P. also expressed his views regarding the development of agriculture in U.P. Shri Amar Singh, General Secretary of Samajwadi Party and Chairman of U.P.Development Council while expressing his views mentioned that there is a need of active involvement of multi-national companies by their investment for agricultural development in U.P. Shri Amar Singh added that they are inviting more number of companies for agriculture development. Shri Ashok Vajpai, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture , U.P. also expressed his views about the agriculture development schemes in U.P. and requested farmers to adopt Drip Irrigation & other Hi-tech schemes. Smt. Radha Singh, Union Agriculture Secretary also expressed her views and Central Sponsored Scheme for agriculture.

Agri-Expo 2006 exhibition & conference was organized by the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development, New Delhi. Mr.M.J. Khan, Chief Editor of Agriculture Today and Organizer arranged this exhibition for Agriculture Development in U.P by using different technologies and also for horticulture development.

Around 120 stalls were put-up by private companies, Govt. organizations, Banks, Agriculture Universities etc. Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., a Pioneer in the promotion of Drip Irrigation in the country also displayed their products and arranged live demonstration of Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation. Shri. Chandrababu Naidu, Shri. Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shri. Amar Singh, Smt. Radha Singh and Shri. Ashok Vajpai visited the stall of Jain Irrigation and also witnessed the live demonstration. Jain Irrigation is doing well and I had visited their plant at Jalgaon was the comment made by Shri Chandrababu Naidu to all VIPs present at the live demonstration of drip irrigation.

Organizer also arranged a face-to-face interaction at hotel Taj and also arranged a technical seminar at the exhibition site. Shri B.D.Jade, Manager Technical Services explained the importance of Water Management and concept of drip irrigation, drawbacks in conventional irrigation in horticulture crops and cash crops like sugarcane. He also explained about Tissue Culture Banana Cultivation and Fertigation in the Technical Seminar. Organizers confirmed that around 60000 farmers visited this exhibition on all the four days from UP, Uttaranchal, Bihar and Assam. After visiting the Agri-Expo Exhibition, the farmers were of the opinion that this type of exhibition should be arranged frequently for the development of agriculture.