The National Skill Development Initiative for Farmers, in its second year, mobilized more than 800 farmers for a better livelihood
India CSR News Network
GURGAON (Farukh Nagar): AB InBev reinforced its commitment towards India and it’s farmers by successfully organizing the second edition of ‘KISAN KAUSHAL SANGOSHTI,’ a National Skill Development Initiative in Farukh Nagar, Haryana today in partnership with Axereal, a global agro-industrial cooperative group. The first edition of the Sangoshti was held last year in Sirsa, which saw a huge participation from 1000 farmers across the state.
The highlight of this event was the display of high yielding varieties of Barley, advanced machinery and training of farmers by global R&D experts. The initiative also introduced AB InBev’s global program ‘SmartBarley’ to the farmers, which is aimed at transforming agriculture by leveraging data, technology and insights to help growers solve challenges and improve their productivity, livelihoods and environmental performance.
Pataudi MLA Bimla Choudhary inaugurated the event, and encouraged the farmers to adopt the latest farming technology and practices for better productivity and lauded the work being done by AB InBev and Axereal India for the farmers in the region.
Pedro Aidar, President, India, AB InBev said, “We launched Kisan Kaushal Sangoshti last year, with an aim to empower Indian farmers through great seed, input & information. It’s exciting to see the great response and participation from farmers across the barley belt this year as well. India is a very important market for us, and this program is a reflection of our commitment to the country and the communities. We will continue to reach out to them through the Sangoshti and our SmartBarley program to help create sustainable livelihood and the best possible barley for our business. We thank our partners for supporting us in this endeavor.”
Sudhanshu Jangir, Head, India Operations of Axereal India said, “Axereal India is doing research on the malting barley supply chain for the last six years in Haryana, Rajasthan, MP & UP through the unique approach of- seed to machinery and collection to grain storage. Our partnership with AB InBev has been a great success for the farming community and will go a long way in developing the agricultural sector. We are excited with the response shown by the farmers for our joint research & barley variety, ABI Voyager, and hope to further strengthen this initiative through continued outreach. We are also working in the direction of the Government’s skill development agenda, in order to develop sustainable farm practices.”
Addressing the gathering, Jagdish Yadav, volunteer farmer, who’s part of SmartBarley program, said,“Given the lack of right information and high costs of modern machinery, we were using outdated methods to plant and harvest barley and hence losing productivity. Now, through SmartBarley program we have the right guidance and there has been a considerable increase in our productivity and profitability.
Another farmer member, Mansingh, added,“We truly appreciate the support and inputs given to us through the SmartBarley program and it has helped increase our yield. This year we are also growing the ABI Voyager variety of barley with Axereal, and we have found it to be very credible.”
The inaugural edition of Kisan Kaushal Sangoshti in 2016 was a grand success, with more than 1,000 farmers being introduced to 102 varieties of high yield Barley. ABI Voyager barley variety and SmartBarley program were launched on the occasion. In the second edition as well, hundreds of farmers were trained for efficient use of machinery for land preparation, sowing, fertilizing, and harvesting the crop.
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