Makhana Board In Bihar Will Be Set Up After Consultation With Local Farmers: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

The union agriculture minister was interacting with farmers during his visit to Darbhanga where he also sowed Makhana seeds in a local pond.

Darbhanga: Union Agriculture Minister and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that a Makhana Board in Bihar will be set up after consultation with farmers “not by sitting in Krishi Bhavan”.

Chouhan was talking to the media on the sidelines of his visit to Darbhanga where he met the farmers for hands-on experience of Makhana cultivation. The union minister himself sowed Makhana seeds in a pond while wearing the traditional attire of the local farmers.

"We decided that the Makhana Board will not be formed by sitting in Krishi Bhavan, but we will go and discuss among those for whom this board is being formed. If the Makhana Board is formed in Bihar, it will be formed on the basis of advice from farmer brothers," Chouhan said.

The Union Agriculture Minister reached the National Makhana Research Center, Darbhanga on Sunday where he not only interacted with the farmers but also sowed Makhana seeds himself wearing the traditional attire of Mithila, dhoti-kurta.

Chouhan interacted with the farmers and received hands-on inputs about various aspects of its cultivation. He discussed in detail with the farmers about production, cost, hard work and market price of the crop.

Later, at a press conference during Kisan Panchayat, Chouhan said that the Centre is making plans for the betterment of farmers “not by sitting in Krishi Bhawan, but by going to the fields”.

“Formation of the board for Makhana farmers is also a part of this planning. Decisions related to the fate and farming of Bihar farmers will not be taken without them,” he said.

The union minister's visit to Bihar comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her eighth Budget speech, proposed to set up a Makhana Board in the state.