Syngenta to enhance rice output in eastern states

Global seeds and pesticides company Syngenta has joined hands with the Indian Government to increase the rice output in eastern states.

The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, had in his Budget speech this year announced a Rs 400-crore package for extending the Second Green Revolution to the eastern states, which are key producers of rice.

The scheme targets an improvement in the rice-based cropping system of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Syngenta India, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Syngenta AG, has launched a project that aims to educate farmers in eastern states on better farm practices related to rice crop.

Syngenta’s project, ‘Green Revolution in Eastern States (GRES)’, seeks to enhance rice output through hybrid paddy, responsible use of pesticides and integrated pest management in rice cultivation, Syngenta India Chairman (Non-Executive), Mr Prakash Apte, told PTI.

To start with, the project would cover 20 villages in Burdwan and Hooghly districts of West Bengal. The duration of the project is three years and it kicked off alongside the kharif cropping season this year.

Syngenta’s project partners are the Government of India’s Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, West Bengal’s Agriculture Department and CropLife India, which is part of a global federation representing the plant sciences industry.

The project includes training farmers in new technology in rice cultivation, including the use of hybrid rice varieties, application of nutrients and identification of pests and diseases.

"We want to reach out to the farmers and share with them the right and beneficial ways of cultivation to help them in enhancing their income and the country in achieving food security,” Mr Apte said.