Sarlahi. Farmers of Chandranagar Rural Municipality have been attracted to maize farming after electrification. Due to the lack of irrigation facilities, the farmers here had been farming with rainwater. Some had been deep-boring the fields and cultivating maize.
Punit Mahato of Chandranagar-2 said that farming in this way requires more investment than production. He was found watering the maize field with an electric motor, having planted Varnashankar maize on thirty acres of land. Mahato says that farming has become easier after electrification.
‘Before, there was no way to get water in the fields,’ he said. ‘We used to draw water from ponds or drains from a pump set.’ He says that drawing water from a pump set is expensive. “Earlier, it used to cost three to four thousand rupees to pump water once in this field,” said Mahato. “Now, the same cost is enough to pump water throughout the season (four times). “
The local level had provided electricity to the fields (agricultural electrification) by burying poles in the fields two years ago. Since then, more than 1,235 farmers here, including Mahato, have installed agricultural meters. In the absence of irrigation facilities, Subodh Sah, a farmer from Chandranagar-6, Babargunj, who uses rainwater to grow wheat, lentils, gram, sugarcane and other crops, said this.
He has experience that the cost of farming in this way is high and the production is low, so the cost does not even rise. ‘The fields here had become like lifeless bodies,’ said Sah. ‘After the rural municipality electrified agriculture, the fields have become lush green.’
Sah said that up to four quintals of maize are now produced per kaththa. He has been cultivating Varnashankar maize on his own and contracted three bighas of fields for the past two years. Local Jitendra Mahato said that vegetable farming has flourished after the provision of water.
He says that he is now able to support a family of five by selling the vegetables grown in his two kaththa fields. Currently, commercial vegetable farming is being done in a large area in this area. Mahato said that vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, beans, beans, peppers, okra, etc. are produced in abundance depending on the season.
Electricity bill to be paid by the rural municipality
Chandranagar rural municipality has not only electrified farmers’ fields and distributed free agricultural meters, but also paid the electricity bill incurred by farmers during irrigation. Chairman Rajkumar Mahato said that the scheme was launched with the aim of providing convenience to the majority of the citizens of his municipality who are involved in the agricultural profession.
He said that this has helped in improving the living standards of the citizens. He said that farmers are facing problems due to the lack of irrigation facilities such as rivers and canals nearby. Chairman Mahato said that the electricity bill for the current fiscal year is being collected and the electricity bill will be paid within a few days.
Following the agricultural electrification, farmers in the rural municipality have started getting good yields even from fields that were left barren. According to agricultural technicians, two to 12 bighas of fields can be irrigated with the agricultural meters provided in this way.
In the past two years alone, nine thousand bighas of fields in this municipality have been irrigated through agricultural electrification. Chairman Mahato said that studies are being conducted to conserve water resources in the municipality in the coming days. Earlier, the municipality was forced to build ponds for agricultural irrigation and use water accumulated during the rainy season.
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