'Bengal will become self-sufficient in potato seed production in 4 to 5 yrs'

KOLKATA: State Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said on Wednesday that Bengal will become self-sufficient in production of potato seeds in the next 4 to 5 years.

"We have produced high quality potato seeds through tissue culture at Anandpur under Keshpur block in West Midnapore and in Nadia district. We have sold more than 1.5 crore potato seeds in this recently concluded fiscal itself. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has instructed us to take measures so that there is zero dependence on seeds from other states like Punjab, Haryana. We are trying our level best in augmenting production of these high quality seeds so that we need not have to depend on other states any more. The private players are also invited to take part in this venture," Chattopadhyay said speaking at Bengal Agriculture Conclave organised by MCCI.

The minister also highlighted the efforts of the state to minimize damage to crops particularly paddy from heavy rainfall. "96 per cent of the farmers in the state are small farmers. So it is of utmost importance to ensure the safety of farmers' crops," he added.

The state Agriculture department has set up 2060 custom hiring centres (CHCs) where heavy machines are available for quick picking up of paddy or other crops from agricultural land when there is cyclone warning. The combined harvester machine which is capable of harvesting one bigha paddy in just 15 minutes has been a big help in saving standing crops swiftly minimizing chances of any damages due to adverse weather conditions. Each such machine harvests one acre in 45-50 minutes.