'Agricultural information vital'

Kirtipur, Sept. 5 (RSS): A five-day workshop on preparation of agricultural information and communication materials started here Monday under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Information and Communication Centre and the T. U. Centre for Economic Development and Administration.

Inaugurating the workshop, officiating secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives Shyam Sundar Sharma said, "In an agricultural country like Nepal, agricultural information is essential to take useful agricultural technology to the farmers."

Executive Director of Nepal Agricultural Research Council Dhruba Joshi said, "It is highly necessary to ensure effective flow of agricultural information among the country's agrarian population, for a technology evolved in this sector is often more sophisticated, hence, the need for innovation and use of appropriate information technology."

Co-ordinator of the Agricultural Research and Extension Project Bharat Prasad Upadhyaya stressed that agricultural communication materials prepared for the farmers should be intelligible to them.

The workshop focussed on how to prepare communication materials on livestock development in a language intelligible to farmers.

The materials thus prepared on a general scale and disseminated among the agrarian population all over the kingdom.

Meanwhile in Salyan (Khalanga), Agricultural products and off-season vegetables worth some Rs 21.9 million was exported from the Kapurkot area in Dhanawang Village Development Committee of Salyan district in fiscal year 1999/2000.

It is learnt that about 1076.5 metric tonnes of vegetables like tomato, cabbage, capsicum, beans, radish, cowpea, etc, worth Rs 11.97 million was exported in fiscal year 1999/2000 from Kapurkot.

Similarly, 2741 metric tonnes of fruits like mango, apple, lemon, etc, worth Rs 412,900 and 427.7 metric tonnes of fresh zinger of the "brono" variety worth Rs 9,513,840 was exported from the area in the last fiscal year.

The vegetables and other agriculture produce from here is sold not only to cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Birgunj, Butwal, Nepalgunj but also exported to the Indian towns Rupaidiha and Baharaich, according to Mahesh Chandra Acharya, acting chief at the District Agriculture Office.

Meanwhile in Kapilbastu, irrigation facility is now available at 10,905 hectares of are a of the district.

According to the District Irrigation Office, Kapilbastu, the total irrigated land by the end of the fiscal year 1998-99 was 10,615 from nine various irrigation projects while additional 290 received the facility by the end of the following fiscal year, it is learnt.

In the fiscal year 1999-2000, Kachaniya Irrigation Project of Sisaba VDC was completed.

The project was completed at a total cost of Rs 9,995,000 of which Rs 8,460,000 was received from HMG and the rest of the amount met through voluntary labour.

The other projects completed earlier are Bhadehar, Phulika, Jabai, Jahadi, Huduraba, Banganga, Dohani Patna and Ghaghaba.

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