One-day Sensitization & Awareness Workshop on ‘Creation of Pearlmillet Advisories using Kisan SARATHI Kosh 2.0’ Organised

13 February 2026, Jaipur

A one-day Sensitization & Awareness Workshop on “Creation of Pearlmillet Advisories using Kisan SARATHI Kosh 2.0” was jointly organised by ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone-II, Jodhpur and ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARI), Durgapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan today.

The Chief Guest, Dr P. S. Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor, Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, highlighted the need to enhance awareness among farmers regarding government initiatives and agricultural development programmes. He compared the sectoral credit flow of the Government of India, noting that approximately 54% of credit is directed towards agriculture compared to 77% towards the industrial sector. Dr Chauhan emphasized the importance of increasing long-term credit support for agriculture to strengthen infrastructure development, rather than relying predominantly on short-term credit, which is largely influenced by procedural aspects of agricultural credit formation.

Dr J. P. Mishra, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Zone-II underlined the significance of pearl millet as a staple crop and a lifeline of agriculture in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi, where it has been integral to food habits for centuries. He informed that these states collectively contribute nearly 70% of the country’s total pearl millet production. He also shared that two dedicated mobile applications have been developed one for farmers and another for experts to facilitate query resolution, content synthesis across crop cycles, and efficient advisory services.

Senior officials reiterated that the extension system serves as the backbone for effective technology transfer and dissemination of modern agricultural innovations to farmers. To streamline farmer on boarding, QR codes and toll-free numbers (18001232175 and 14426) have been introduced to enable easy registration for both farmers and experts.

During the technical sessions, a lecture on the management and control of white grubs was delivered, outlining effective preventive and control measures. An overview of the project was also presented, detailing its objectives, key components, and anticipated outcomes.

The workshop witnessed active participation from all 66 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi.

Participants were trained in the practical use of the application to enhance information dissemination and address farmers’ queries effectively through multimedia-enabled advisory tools.

(Source: ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Zone-II, Jodhpur)