NEW DELHI: The farm sector in West Bengal has shown appreciable growth despite adversities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The productivity of rice, maize, foodgrains and pulses registered an increase of 1.2 per cent, 8.1 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 19.34 per cent, respectively between the period 2018-19 and 2020-21, he said in a written reply to the Lower House.
During the last three years (2019-2021), a total of 84 field crops varieties were developed and released for West Bengal. These include 31 varieties of cereals; 23 of oilseeds; 14 of pulses; 9 of fiber; 4 of forages and 3 of sugarcane, he added.
Tomar informed the House that agricultural research institutes/ centres in West Bengal have undertaken research for the development in various areas like field crops, disease diagnosis and development of vaccines for animals, poultry and fisheries sectors, development of ergonomically improved tools and equipment and women-friendly tools and machineries, etc.
"As a result of the initiatives taken by the Central and State Government and the Agricultural Research Institutes, agriculture sector of the State of West Bengal has shown appreciable growth despite adversities created by the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has established four research institutes and nine regional research stations in West Bengal.
These institutes are catering to the agricultural technology needs of West Bengal besides other parts of the country.
In addition, at district level, 23 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) have also been established in West Bengal for training and demonstration of the technologies developed by ICAR, he added.
Responding to another query on implementation of central agri-schemes in West Bengal, the minister said the state government joined the PM-KISAN scheme from April-2021 and about Rs 2616.14 crore fund has been released through various instalments so far to 46.18 lakh farmers.
Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund in West Bengal, 209 projects have been sanctioned for a loan amount of Rs 109 crore, he said.
On the status of Plant Quarantine clearance centres in North Bengal, the Minister said there are four centres one each at Panitanki, Jaigaon, Bagdogra Airport and Kalimpong.
Plant Quarantine Stations (PQS) at Changrabandha and Mehadipur in West Bengal are notified as point of entry, however, the clearance is routed through PQS Panitanki and RPQS Kolkata respectively, he added.