Patna: The agriculture department is reaching out to the doorsteps of farmers through its Kisan Choupal programme that was launched on Wednesday. The event, which will continue till January 25, will be organised in the 8,463 panchayats of the state.

Choupal means village meeting in which people share their views on issues.

The Kisan Choupal would focus solely on issues concerning agriculture and apart from farmers, agriculture department officials and agriculture scientists would be present too.

During the programmes, farmers would be advised about the use of fertilizers, timing of sowing crops, pest and weed management by the experts. They would also be informed about the various welfare schemes being run for them by the agriculture department.

Farmers would also be made aware of the horticulture and the type of crops, which they should go for as per the condition of the local soil and other factors.

Special emphasis would be laid on organic farming and participants would be briefed on the benefits of this method of farming.

"Apart from informing farmers about the various aspects of farming, the department is going to use the platform to collect detailed information about prevalent farming practices, soil-related information, irrigation facilities and problems farmers of a given panchayat are facing," agriculture minister Prem Kumar said on Wednesday.