The department of biotechnology (DBT) under the Union ministry of science and technology will accord special attention to the Northeast as a part of its mission programme ‘Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN)’ to increase the agricultural produce of the region.
The department through this programme aims to understand the local problems of the farmers in the Northeast and provide them with scientific solutions
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The Biotech-KISAN will be implemented in the Northeast with the objective of linking available innovative agriculture technologies to the farms with small and marginal farmers, especially women farmers of the region.
“The hubs in Northeast will collaborate with top scientific institutions, state agricultural universities, krishi vigyan kendras, existing state agriculture extension services and system and other farmers’ organizations in the Northeast for demonstration of technologies and training of farmers,” the department said in a statement.
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The Biotech-KISAN is a scientist-farmer partnership scheme launched in 2017 for agriculture innovation with an objective to connect science laboratories with the farmers to find out innovative solutions and technologies to be applied at the farm level.
Under this scheme, so far 146 Biotech-KISAN hubs have been established covering all 15 agroclimatic zones and110 aspirational districts in the country.
The scheme has benefitted over two lakhs farmers so far by increasing their agriculture output and income.
Over 200 entrepreneurships have also been developed in rural areas.
“The scheme specifically focuses on the Northeast region as it is predominantly agrarian with70 per cent of its workforce engaged in agriculture and allied sector for livelihood,” the department said.
Northeast produces only 1.5 per cent of the country’s food grain and continues to be a net importer of food grains even for its domestic consumption.