Salumber Collector Muhammad Junaid PP is on a mission to expand arable land for the district, which is interspersed with rugged landscape and mountainous terrain.
For that Junaid promoting bench terracing – a soil conservation and farming method that transforms steep, sloped hillsides into a series of flat, step-like platforms – among farmers.
Within five months of his tenure, results have started showing up. With bench terracing, the district has added up 89.4 ha of additional arable land benefitting 447 farmers, who were encouraged to adopt bench terracing.
Junaid is a 2018 batch IAS officer, who belongs to Kerala where bench terracing is a common practice to protect soil erosion due to heavy rainfall.
Going forward, the district administration has further proposed 135 bench terracing. These include 20 in Jhallara, 50 in Salumbar, 33 in Jaisamand and 32 in Lasadiya.
“The proposed works are expected to benefit 135 farmers and develop an additional 27 hectares of arable land,” said Junaid.
The Salumber district, which spans around 2,480 sq kms, has around 34,000 ha of arable land used for cultivation of maize, wheat and gram. There is significant chunk of uncultivated and culturable land due to rocky terrain.
“Junaid is targeting this chunk of land and trying to make it productive for the district. This will add to agriculture wealth of the district created from Udaipur in 2023,” said Ramesh Srimali, a resident of Salumber, who has deep interest in agriculture research.
Bench terracing is being carried under MJSA and PMKSY
The bench terracing is being carried out in the district under the flagship schemes – Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan (MJSA 2.1/2.2) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY 2.0).
The terracing work is being done in Jhallara, Salumbar and Lasadiya blocks of the district. A total of 191 works were completed in Jhallara block, benefitting 191 farmers and 38.20 hectares of additional arable land was developed.
Similarly, 135 farmers were benefitted by completing 135 works in Salumbar block and 27 hectares of land were created. At the same time, 121 bench terracing works have been completed in Lasadia block. This has benefitted 121 farmers and developed an additional 24.20 hectares of arable land.
“With the completion of these works, the farmers of the district will get better opportunities in rain-fed agriculture. It will also help in reducing soil erosion on sloping land, conserving rainwater, retaining moisture and increasing agricultural productivity,” Junaid said.
Alok Mathur is a law graduate. Journalism is his first love which he now pursues in the latter half of his career. Controversies and crime are the right triggers for him.
