Patna, Feb. 2: The state government will organise a meeting of farmers on Saturday to solicit their views and incorporate them into the final agriculture roadmap worth over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.

“About 2,000 farmers from across the state, chief minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi, ministers of other departments and principal secretaries would attend the meeting,” agriculture minister Narendra Singh told reporters today.

He added that according to the plan, Rs 1,52,511 crore would be spent between the 2012-13 fiscal and the 2016-17 financial year in sectors such as agriculture production, energy, rural works, animal and fish resources, cooperative, water resources, minor irrigation, food processing, enhancement of food grain storage capacity, promotion of marketing linkages, agro-research, education and revenue, forests and environment.

The target of the roadmap is to double the production of foodgrain in five years with a stress on agriculture education, which would be imparted to students from the high school level (Class IX) to those taking up agriculture as a separate stream at the Intermediate level.

Singh, however, refused to set any deadline to start agriculture education in schools, stating that it would take some time to hire specialised teachers and develop necessary infrastructure.

He said once the final draft of the roadmap was prepared it would be put up for discussion in the Assembly. The target is to implement the project from April 1. “Our aim is not only to increase the production capacity but also to ensure supply of foodgrain to other states. The project would be a milestone in the history of the state’s development,” the minister added.

Development commissioner-cum-agriculture production commissioner Ashok Kumar Sinha said of the Rs 1.52 lakh crore earmarked for the project, the government would provide Rs 1.22 lakh crore and the remaining Rs 30,000 crore would come from the private sector.

“A resource management group, headed by the chief secretary, would suggest ways on mobilisation of funds. The group would also consider sources such as central plans and schemes, state plans and various financial agencies to get funds for the project.