The second day of Vaartaa 2017, an agriculture meet by Tata Steel, witnessed interactive sessions on climate resilient agriculture, profit maximization in paddy cultivation, vegetable marketing and integrated farming.

After every session, farmers were invited to ask questions directly from scientists on problems plaguing their agriculture.

Dr. S Wani, Director, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, said traditional farming needed changes in the wake of climate change. “Farmers need to gear up to counter climate change by adopting rainwater harvesting, inter-cropping, and by selecting the right cultivars for their fields.” He called upon the farmers to go for cultivation of second crops to increase profit margin.

Dr. G. Rajeshwar Rao, Principal Scientist, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad, said, “Farmers should bank upon water harvesting structures to cope with dry spell and supplemental irrigation. Farmers should also know crop residue management for in-situ moisture conservation.”

Dr. Yogesh Kumar, Senior Scientist, ICAR-Central Rainfed Upland Rice Research Station, said, “Farmers shouldn’t cultivate paddy blindly. They must consider their land type and then only select a rice variety. A particular rice variety may grow well in some fields, but the same may fail if cultivated elsewhere.”

Mr. Kaushlendra Kumar, Founder, Kaushalya Foundation, called upon the farmers to emphasize on marketing of farm produce. “You all shouldn’t confine yourself to production. Go a step further and think of ways that could add value to your produce, thereby, fetch a good price. Good packing is one of the ways that adds cosmetic value to a product and enhances its marketability.”

The last day of Vaartaa will witness knowledge sharing sessions by scientists on lac cultivation and pisciculture.  The scientists attending the meet are from institutes like Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture (CRIDA),