Barhi (Hazaribagh), June 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, silent on the Lalit Modi scam that has plunged his one-year rule in its most serious crisis yet, was at his eloquent best in Barhi today, calling for " kranti" in farming while laying the foundation for Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) before a 40,000-strong crowd.
Far from Delhi's buzzing power corridors and hounding reporters, Modi seemed relaxed as he alighted from his chopper a little before noon to lay the foundation stone for IARI and witness the MoU among Union steel ministry, state and National Mineral Development Corporation for a steel plant at an yet-undisclosed site in Jharkhand.
IARI will come up at Goriakarma area of Barhi block, but Modi visited block headquarters, making his 34-minute at Chakuratand grounds. Here, he held forth on banking on science and not luck for improved yields, more crop per drop, giving farmers soil cards, honey and dairy production, among others.
With an eye on the Bihar Assembly elections, Modi stressed that an IARI in Barhi will help farmers in Bihar as well. Farmers in this region can't rely on findings in Kerala, for instance, he said, as soil quality varies from place to place.
"Other countries progressing fast in agriculture sector focus on less expense and high yield but the time has come to go for quality and scientific research to increase productivity per hectare," he said. "Lands are now decreasing due to growing families in India, which are also minimising agricultural fields. In this scenario we have to focus on research, best equipment and advance technology to get maximum productivity from existing agricultural fields," he said.
"My government wants to give the best resources and technology to agriculture so that farmers produce and earn more," he said.
"We are now providing soil card to farmers, each having all data related to a specific plot. The card will help farmers know the plot's exact conditions, which he can cultivate accordingly for better productivity. My government wants to rope in unemployed youths to open soil pathology labs across the country where farmers can get the soil in their field tested to know what treatment it needs," Modi said, referring to land as dharti mata that has "only been exploited so far".
Confirming including Jharkhand in national dairy plan phase-I to increase milk productivity, Modi said: "We have more cows but less milk productivity. In other countries, the situation is reverse."
He said his government wanted water in every field under Pradhanmantri Sichai Yojana. "Dams are constructed but not canals, which makes stored water at various reservoirs useless for farmers," he said.
"I also want one district in every state where farmers encouraged to produce honey. Honey is packaged and exported to various countries and farmers can earn big easily," he added.
Urging farmers to go in for vermicompost to improve their agricultural lands, Modi also reminded people that his government had decided to revive the urea unit of Fertiliser Corporation India Limited in Sindri and hinted opening more such units in Gorakhpur (UP), Bengal, Assam and Bihar.
Mentioning Bihar again, Modi expressed surprise that people spent Rs 400 crore annually on fish imports there and spoke of scope in the fisheries sector.
Present at the venue, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said IARI would be constructed on 1,000 acres at a cost of Rs 1,000 crores. "Assam and Jharkhand were selected for new IARIs but only Jharkhand chief minister replied to me immediately and acted fast by transferring 1,000 acres."
Chief minister Raghubar Das, acknowledging the compliment, also presented a list of achievements of his six-month governance to Modi and the people at large.
"I promise you to make the state similar to Maharashtra and Gujarat in five years," he promised Modi.
"My government is corruption-free and I have launched a toll-free number 181 in this regard (to report on graft). I have laid foundation stones for construction of new Assembly and high court with a deadline of 28 months to complete the work. We will start a sports university. We will soon construct network of roads in Hazaribagh by pumping in Rs 450 crore." He also announced rolling out e-rickshaws on Independence Day with a two-year target to replace cycle rickshaws with e-rickshaws.
Others present on the dais with Modi were governor Droupdi Murmu, union minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha, also the MP of Hazaribagh, and state agriculture minister Randhir Kumar Singh. Sinha gave the vote of thanks.
People in Barhi have hailed the step, calling it as a compensation that arrived 23 years late.
"In 1992, people were convinced to transfer fertile lands to the state for a promised industrial hub near Tilaiya Dam. Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority (RIADA) acquired 498 acres near Barhi Chowk, promising a mega industrial growth centre with jobs for 8,000. Nothing happened except that in 2009, 100 acres were used to set up a CoBRA battalion," Mahesh Swarnkar, a septuagenarian, said. "Now, we are happy. Goriakarma is 11km from Barhi Chowk but IARI will be our growth engine for future generations."
