Avoid side effects of disruptive technologies, says President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu addressed the centenary celebrations of the ICAR- National Institute of Secondary Agriculture(NISA), on Friday at Namkum, in Ranchi. Speaking on the occasion President Murmu said that ICAR- NISA has made an unparallel contribution in achieving Lac production in the country. This institute has not only efficiently carried out research and development work related to agriculture but has also ensured that such research reaches on the ground.The President said Jharkhand produces 55 percent lac production of the country and stressed to promote agriculture based industry to increase income of farmers. President Murmu advised scientist to aware farmers about secondary agriculture. She said ICAR could play effective role in this regard. The President said,farmers income will be increased after training of processing unit to farmers. President Murmu said use of waste material by farmers will also help them to financial strengthening.Observing that today’s era is that of disruptive technologies, President Murmu called for taking advantage of these technologies while avoiding their side effects.

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and Minister of Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan said,the history of lac is as old as India. There is a mention of Lakhshagriha in Mahabharata, that too was made of lac. From then, lac has been cultivated. In today's time, lac has great importance, he said. Chohan said, lac is important for increasing our income and it is also an alternative to plastic. We can use lac to save the environment from plastic.He said that the Centre will focus on helping in setting up cluster-based processing units of lac so that the processing work becomes easy and the farmers also get a fair price after processing. On this occasion, Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth and Chief Minister Hemant Soren also expressed their views.