Hyderabad/Patna: Bihar Agriculture Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha visited the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru, Hyderabad, on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Principal Secretary Narmadeshwar Lal, Director of Agriculture Mukesh Kumar Lal, and Director of Horticulture-cum-Managing Director of the Bihar State Horticulture Mission, Abhishek Kumar.
The visit was aimed at exploring how new technology, scientific research and innovation could be integrated into Bihar’s agricultural sector.
Millets Project Reviewed
During the visit, Sinha held discussions with ICRISAT scientists on the potential for agricultural development in Bihar and reviewed progress on the Bihar Centre of Excellence for Millets Value Chain (BCoEMVC) project. Kuldeep Singh, Head of the ICRISAT Genebank, briefed the minister on work under way to develop and strengthen the millet-based value chain in the state.
Sinha said linking new agricultural opportunities in Bihar with farmers’ prosperity was a priority for the state government. He said farmers’ income and livelihoods could be strengthened by applying modern research, advanced technology and scientific findings at the farm level, and added that collaboration with international institutions such as ICRISAT would be important in creating new opportunities for Bihar’s agricultural sector.
Call For Better Markets For Millets
Sinha said that while “Shree Anna” (millets) are already being produced in Bihar, farmers would only secure fair prices if better markets, value addition, processing and effective supply systems were developed.
He also called for wider awareness among farmers about the benefits of millets, saying their nutritional and agricultural advantages over traditional cropping systems needed to be communicated more widely. According to Sinha, steps would be taken to develop the BCoEMVC as a model for eastern India and the country as a whole in food and nutritional security, with ICRISAT’s technical and scientific support seen as central to the initiative. He said he expected the partnership between the Bihar government and ICRISAT to help boost millet production, processing, value addition and marketing, while strengthening farmers’ incomes.
Interaction With Trainee Farmers
The minister also met trainee farmers from Bihar undergoing capacity-building programmes at ICRISAT, asking about their training experience and the technical knowledge gained. He said transferring modern agricultural techniques and scientific knowledge to farmers remained a priority.
Delegation Tours ICRISAT Facilities
The Bihar delegation, led by Sinha, toured several ICRISAT facilities, including the Regenerative Agriculture Living Laboratory, the Speed Breeding Facility, the Genebank, the Centre of Excellence in Genomics, and the Agribusiness Innovation Platform. Officials said the delegation was briefed on research in crop breeding, genetic resource conservation, climate-resilient agriculture, agricultural biotechnology and agri-entrepreneurship.
Stanford Blade, Deputy Director General (Research and Innovation) at ICRISAT, briefed the delegation on the institute’s global research programmes and its work on food, nutritional and livelihood security. Senior officials present included ICRISAT Assistant Director General Sanjay Agrawal, Global Research Program Directors Raman Babu and Ramesh Singh, and Telangana Agriculture Department Joint Director N.P. Shravan Kumar.
Further details on the timeline for the BCoEMVC project’s expansion are expected to be announced by the Bihar government in due course.
