The government is planning to set up an integrated rural energy system to meet the requirements of farmers. The focus will be on harnessing renewable energy technologies such as biogas, wind and solar energy, conventional energy sources like electricity, kerosene, diesel, soft coke and fuel.
?Farmers need energy for domestic needs as well as farm operations. At the moment, they depend largely on firewood, cow-dung and agricultural residues for meeting their domestic needs. For agricultural purposes, the major sources are electricity, where available, and diesel. An integrated system is needed to meet the energy needs of farmers in a holistic manner,? said a government official.
Particular attention will be paid to renewable energy technologies like biogas plants, solar photovoltaic technology, biomass gasification, mini hydropower and biofuel technologies.
The scheme is part of a larger programme to provide access to affordable input and services, crucial to the success of farming and propelling the growth of the agri sector to 4% from the present 2%.
Other initiatives include developing vaccines against diseases for which no vaccines have been evolved. For this, disease diagnostic and investigation laboratories will be set up, with a separate cadre of appropriately trained personnel. Quality control in agricultural inputs, too, would be exercised over false and exaggerated claims for inputs with laws in place for penalty. ?It has been noticed that companies have drastically lowered the minimum germination rate they assure farmers. For seeds, this has fallen to as low as 60%, which means, a village buying 1,000 bags of seed pays for that number, but gets only 600 in effect. Thus, there has to be a framework to regulate such violations,? said the official. A suitable agency for strict quality control of animal feed, drugs, vaccines and other biological products will also be set up.