Jharkhand seeks Central assistance in agriculture sector

Rainwater harvest is one of the several initiatives that Jharkhand would take in its effort to enhance its requirement of food grains.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das said he expected Central assistance to develop the sector when he met Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in Delhi yesterday.
Das told Singh that the sector could be developed with rainwater harvesting and proper utilisation of agriculture land, an official release said here.
Singh said the Union Agriculture secretary would meet officials from Jharkhand to discuss about it on January 24 and assured Central assistance.
Through Governor Syed Ahmed's speech to the recently concluded Jharkhand Assembly, the government's one of the thrust areas is to develop irrigation facilities as per the state's geographical situation and expanding Integrating Farming Yozana.

He also said the state falls short of food grain produce due to lack of irrigation facilities.
Geologist Nitish Priyadarshi suggested that identification of proper groundwater recharge areas, land, proper drainage system and periodic water treatment of existing ponds are some of the steps to make rainwater harvesting successful.