Soil of Jharkhand is majorly acidic in nature which affects the overall production and affects food security of the small and marginal farmers. There is lot of stress on the soil due to wanton use of fertilisers without soil testing. Therefore, soil health care should be given utmost care so that farmers can take informed decision about their soil management.

Under the Caritas India and Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) banner around 468 farmers from 8 districts of Jharkhand came forward to learn and share their experiences with the faculty of Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) on November 22, 2017.

Caritas India recognised the smallholder farmers from the districts as Krishi Saathi (Motivators), who are identified by the respective partner organisations to motivate and work as para volunteers to replicate farmers friendly initiatives in other parts of the region.

According to Dr. D. K. Sahi, Chairman Soil Science, BAU, the concept of a sustainable farming system contributes to overall welfare by providing sufficient food and other goods and services that are economically efficient and profitable, socially responsible while improving environmental quality. He acknowledged the contribution of Caritas India for linking more than 400 farmers every year with BAU to improve their soil health with sensitization on application of necessary soil microbes.

Technological change has been the major driving force for increasing agricultural productivity and over many decades the choice of agriculture technologies and its adoption helped in increasing production, productivity and income of the farmers of Jharkhand.

Policies on agriculture, trade, research and development played strong influence on the choice of technology, the level of agricultural production and farm practices.

Dr. R Thakur, Dean, College of Agriculture, BAU said agriculture is becoming more integrated in the agro-food chain while environment, food safety, food quality and animal welfare regulations are also increasingly impacting on the sector. He encouraged all the farmers to continue the good agriculture practices and strong association with the regional agriculture university.

Improving the livelihoods of poor and marginalized farmers is a big challenge. There is a constant struggle for farming communities to produce sufficient food for their families, get good price for their products and coping with effects of climate change and variability to meet other basic needs.

Dr. J. Oraon, Director Extension Education, BAU assured his full support to the farmers with regard to different schemes and programs for the benefit of smallholder of Jharkhand.

Dr. Pallab De, Thematic Manager – NRM of Caritas India shared with the farmers and BAU faculty about Caritas India’s presence across India, specifically about Agrarian Prosperity Program and Strengthening Adaptive Farming in Bangladesh, India and Nepal projects which emphasized more on climate adaptive agriculture practices with inclusive participation and increased awareness with respect to changing climatic condition.  He appreciated the coordination of BAU and other regional agriculture research station with the farmers of our intervention areas for increasing their crop intensity and specially soil health and it’s management.

Some of the progressive farmers of the region exhibited their best organic produce at the event.