BEDF is also involved as technical partner for different FPOs, exporter associations, etc in Basmati rice growing states. For boosting exports of quality production of aromatic and long grain Basmati rice, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)' arm Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF) has taken innovative steps to sensitize farmers involved in the cultivation of Basmati rice in the key growing regions about the adoption of good agricultural practices. As part of the initiatives, BEDF in collaboration with the rice exporters associations of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi, state agriculture universities and state agriculture departments, organised 75 awareness and training programmes to encourage farmers for growing high-quality Basmati rice in the seven states. BEDF is also involved as a technical partner for different FPOs, exporter associations, etc in Basmati rice-growing states. The BEDF launched awareness-cum-training workshop on July 16, 2021, from Jahangirpur village, Gautam Budh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh as a part of the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', which is an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of India's Independence. The awareness campaigns were organised for farmers focussing on the themes of 'judicious use of pesticides and adoption of good agricultural practices'. Another objective of the awareness drives was to train the farmers for seed production to resolve the issues of non-availability of seeds of better quality. At the workshop, farmers were trained about different methods to identify insect pests and diseases of basmati rice and their management. The issues like problems in basmati export and expectations of the rice industry were also brought to the notice of growers and exporters during the awareness drive during the entire basmati growing season of 2021. APEDA is given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag as the sole custodian of basmati rice grown in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Under the GI certification issued in February 2016, 77 districts of seven states- Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir are referred to as basmati rice-growing regions. During the awareness drive by BEDF, scientists explained to farmers and exporters about the pesticide residue problem in the export of basmati rice and transfer of production technology including nursery raising, integrated nutrient and water management in local languages. A huge number of farmers, exporters, FPOs, etc turned out to learn about the judicious use of pesticides and adoption of good agricultural practices at the workshops that were organised at 75 different locations in seven states. In Punjab, 25 awareness and training programmes were organised, followed by 21 in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in Haryana, 05 in Uttarakhand, 03 in Jammu & Kashmir and 02 each in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. Find more. |Source: Online/KSU
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