The Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the Chamber organized a one day Seminar on Potato Exports in Jayrambati, Bankura on February 22, 2016 in association with Department of Agriculture Marketing, Government of West Bengal and APEDA.

Shri Arup Roy, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture Marketing, Govt. of West Bengal inaugurated the Seminar and addressed the gathering of 500 farmers along with Local MLA and district Agriculture Officers. The Hon’ble Minister thanked BCC&I for their tremendous efforts in reaching out to farmers and graciously agreed to help such initiatives in the future.

Dr. C B Singh, Asst. General Manager, APEDA spoke on quality of potatoes for export and stressed the need for producing quality potatoes in the State. He thanked BCC&I for their endeavour and also agreed to help the Chamber in these matters.

Technical discussions on increasing the production and improving the quality of potato to match the international market standards was highlighted by Prof. Pranab Chatterjee, BCKV and Dr. Ajoy Kar, Soil Scientist. Prof. Chatterjee spoke about the higher and uneconomic doses of fertilizers used by farmers thereby increasing the cost of cultivation. Dr. Kar spoke about the nutrient uptake pattern of potato and the need for efficient fertilizer use. He urged the farmers to use the right nutrients along with organic manures to improve the storage quality of potatoes.

Mr. Satyabrata Mukherjee, Chairperson, Agriculture and Rural Development Committee also announced that the Bengal Chamber’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee would take initiative for soil testing in the surrounding villages for the quality production of potatoes for export.

This was an initiative of the Chamber directly connected with its farmer outreach programme, for which the Chamber is in close connect with the Government of West Bengal.