Farmers given inter-state curfew passes to hire outside technicianse for harvesting:Sushil Modi

Patna, Apr 7 () More than 750 inter-state curfew passeshave been issued to farmers in Bihar so that they could bringoperators and technicians from Punjab and Haryana to runcombine harvesters for cutting wheat crop, Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil Kumar Modi said on Tuesday. He said a large number of Bihar farmers have purchasedcombine harvesters in the recent past availing the subsidyprovided by the state government on the equipment, but thereis a shortage of operators and technicians to run them. In such a situation, they need to hire experts from Punjaband Haryana, he said.

Considering their problem to move out during thenationwide lockdown necessitated by coronavirus outbreak,thestate government has issued inter-state curfew passes to manyfarmers to ensure uninterrupted harvesting of their wheatcrop, said Modi, who also holds the Finance portfolio. Armed with the passes, several farmers have left on theirvehicles to bring operators and technicians of combineharvesters from prominent agri states of Punjab and Haryana,he said. Acknowledging the problem, he said the state governmenthas decided to give training to operate and repair harvesterto the natives of the state so that they donot require tobring technicians from outside from next year. The Bihar government has already issued guidelines andadvisories to keep agricultural activities out of the lockdownpurview, he said, adding many shops dealing in fertilizers,seeds, agriculture equipment, tractor workshops etc. continueto remain shut in the absence of information among theintended sections.

The officials concerned have been directed to ensuresmooth transportation and sale of agrochemicals (pesticides),seeds, agriculture equipment, milk booth, dairy products,poultry feed among others so that nobody face any difficultiesin buying these items, he said. ARSNS SNS