KVK Harnaut set to get coveted award

Patna: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Harnaut (Nalanda), from the zone-II of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has been selected for the best KVK zonal award this year. The award would be conferred to KVK Harnaut by PM Narendra Modi in the presence of Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh at the foundation day function of ICAR to be held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on July 16, said its head and senior scientist Dr Sanjeev Kumar.Interestingly, Nalanda is the home district of CM Nitish Kumar.
KVK Harnaut has been chosen for the prestigious award for the promotion and spread of the practice of organic farming of vegetables in Nalanda district on a big scale, besides the two other equally spectacular achievements of setting the world records in paddy and potato production by two different farmers, among other achievements.
The significance of promotion of organic farming of vegetables among the three notable achievements could also be gauged from the fact that today – even in the age of the use of high dose of pesticides and chemical fertilisers for increased agricultural yield – the “organic farming” is the buzzword the world over. 265 farmers of Nalanda have formed a federation of producers of organic vegetables, called ‘Shere Bihar Farmers Groups,’ which has received C-3 certificate from the organisation Ecocert for the export of their vegetable yield.
KVK Harnaut senior scientist Dr Kumar said the vegetables produced by them through organic farming methods are exported to the Middle East countries and Bangladesh, as well as to metropolitan cities of Maharashtra, West Bengal, and even to neighbouring Jharkhand for the high-end customers.
Dr Kumar said KVK Harnaut is the “child” of CM Nitish, as he opened it in 1992 when he was Union agriculture minister. Initially, the method of organic farming of vegetables was started by 30 farmers in Sohdih village over 15 hectares of land in 2010-11, but the acreage has spread to 5,900 hectares of land by 2015, he added.
In several ways, KVK Harnaut also became a part of the saga of Bihar turnaround story from 2006, especially in the first term of CM Nitish.
Sumant Kumar, a farmer from Darveshpura village, set a world record in paddy production by getting a yield of 224 quintals of paddy per hectare of land for which he was given the award of best farmer by ICAR in 2012-13, apart from awards by the Punjab and Bihar governments.
Similarly, Rakesh Kumar from Sohdih village also set world record in potato production by producing 1,088 quintals of potato per hectare of land that also brought to him best farmer award at International Potato Expo, New Delhi, in 2014, apart from recognition from Punjab government and Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour (Bhagalpur).