Gujarat govt to hold month-long Krushi Mahotsav from Apr 20

Ahmedabad, Apr 17 (UNI) Enthused by the success of two previous ''Krushi Mahotsavs'', the Gujarat government today announced that the event would kick-off from April 20.

Gujarat Agriculture Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma told reporters here today that the State Government has earmarked Rs 10 crore for the the event which will spread awareness about ''scientific farming'' to farmers living in 18,600 villages of Gujarat.

Mr Chudasma said, during the a month-long festival, a total 236 ''Krushi Raths'' will roam each district in the state. These ''Raths'' will be manned by 750 agricultural scientists who will offer guidance and advice to the farmers. The agricultural scientists will be assisted by 550 postgraduate students from the four Agricultural Universities in the state.

This year, as part of the ''Mahotsav'', ''Gobar Bank (Cow dung)'' would come up in each district. Natural fertilizer yards, organic waste disposal facilities, and low-cost green houses are also proposed to set up. Vaccination of animals will also be undertaken, while village tanks are also planned to be constructed to solve the water-scarcity problems. The State Government has earmarked Rs 144 crore in the current financial year for the construction of 1,000 village tanks.

Mr Chudasma said because of the earlier two ''Mahotsavs'', there has been a considerable increase in agricultural production. The production which averaged Rs 9,000 crore annually earlier, rose to Rs 23,000 crore in 2005, and further to Rs 28,000 crore in 2006. This year, it is expected to exceed Rs 32,000 crore, he added.

UNI