Honorable Shri Mathura Prasad Mahto, Agriculture Minister, Jharkhand inaugurated state level workshop on Agmarknet at Ranchi

NIC in association with Directorate of Marketing & Inspection, Jharkhand organized a state level workshop on “AGMARKNET PORTAL” on 27th March’2010 at Ranchi. Hon’ble Shri Mathura Prasad Mahto, Minister of Agriculture, Govt. of Jharkhand, who inaugurated the workshop by lightening the traditional lamps, said that both central and state governments are jointly working for the benefits of the farmers. He declared that the government will set up cold storages in 12 districts of the state and has decided that marketing board officials will directly purchase commodities from the farmers. He hoped that the decision would end the distress sale of agriculture produce by farmers. He also called upon for judicious & efficient use of water for agriculture purpose by building check dams etc. The minister later released a brochure on AGMARKNET to mark the occasion.
Earlier Shri Shahid Ahmad, SIO welcomed the dignitaries and informed that NIC has computerized the 26 APMC’s of the state and data are regularly uploaded on the portal. He said that the effort has provided best market prices to the farmers of the state.  Shri M Moni, Deputy Director General & national head apprised the gathering that daily minimum, maximum & model prices of approximately 300 agriculture commodities are uploaded on the portal. He hoped that various TV channels in the country would soon start telecasting agriculture commodity prices to help our farmers. He emphasized greater use of IT in agriculture sector on which more than 70% of our people depends. He congratulated the Government of Jharkhand for setting up IT – Task Force in Agriculture,
Shri Sailesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, IT, lauded NIC for creating huge database in agriculture sector. Shri A P Singh, Secretary, Agriculture, stressed on the use of information already available. He called for more investment in agriculture marketing in the state and highlighted that the state has done well in the production of floriculture, fish, milk & vegetables. Shri Vijoy Prakash, MD, National Horticulture Board, New Delhi emphasized the importance of market intelligence in deciding the commodity prices. Smt. Chonhati Panna, MD, Jharkhand State Agriculture Marketing Board and Shri Irfan Ozair, MD, VEGFED also expressed their views and said that reaching the farmers directly is the biggest challenge and laid emphasis on rural financing. 
Mr. Loukesh Kumar, Technical Director and state coordinator, NIC gave a brief presentation on the portal. He explained to the audience about the various information available and future projections and facilities that will enrich the AGMARKNET portal. Mr. Amar Kumar Sinha, TD, NIC coordinated the workshop. The workshop was also attended by Shri Kailash Chandra Rout, Dy. Director, DMI, Ranchi besides officials from NIC District centres, NABARD, APMCs, NGO’s, farmers & media persons. Before the end of the morning session Shri Rout, delivered vote of thanks and hoped to organize farmer awareness program in future with the help of NIC.
In the afternoon session various Secretary’s from APMC’s, NIC officials and  farmers interacted with the dignitaries regarding problems related to storage, transportation,  production, marketing  etc.