Afghanistan's farmers in Bihar to study and learn farming

Patna, Jan 16: A team of farmers from Afghanistan are in Bihar to study and learn farming techniques, a minister said on Thursday.

The team of 22 Afghanistan farmers, including women, are in Bihar's agriculture field to study and learn techniques for cultivation of mango, litchi and other cash crops, Bihar Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh said.

Farmers from Aghanistan are visiting state's Nalanda and Muzaffarpur districts after they arrived here on Wednesday.

"They would be camping in two districts from Jan 15 to 20 and meet farmers, agriculture officials to know details of cultivation of fruits, cash crops, honey production, mushroom production to milk processing," Singh said.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar's economy, employing over 80 percent of workforce and generating about 40 percent of the state's domestic product, according to the state government.

Afghan farmers will learn techniques for cultivation of fruits

In Muzaffarpur, team of Afghanistan farmers would study litchi cultivation and in Nalanda, they would study organic farming of potatoes, wheat and flowers.

Jamarak Khan, attorney advisor of the team from Afghanistan, said that they would try to learn local techniques used by farmers. Muzaffarpur and neighbouring districts accounts for more than 60 percent of the country's litchi production.

Bihar is turning its attention to popularising and promoting organic farming in the state to usher in a new "Green Revolution" in agriculture.

Farmers of Nalanda had set world record in paddy, wheat and potato production by using organic farming in last three years.

IANS