The nurseries are expected to produce around five lakh plants every year and help expand the area under sugarcane cultivation in the district, Jagran reported.

The nurseries will be built and operated by farmers, with the government providing a subsidy of 75 per cent of the cost. The selected farmers will contribute the remaining 25 per cent.

Under the scheme, Kishor Kumar Singh from Jhitkahiyan village and Pankaj Kumar from Prasad village in Minapur block have been selected to develop the nurseries. Each nursery will be established on around 8,000 square feet of land.

According to the department, the two nurseries together will produce around five lakh sugarcane plants annually. About 10,000 plants are required to cultivate one acre of sugarcane. Based on this requirement, the nurseries could support sugarcane cultivation across an additional 20-25 acres each year.

The Assistant Director, Sugarcane Development, said the main objective of the modern nurseries was to make quality planting material available to farmers locally. This is expected to improve sugarcane productivity and strengthen the district's sugarcane based industry, the official said.

Sugarcane is currently cultivated in 124 villages across the district, with farmers in several villages in Motipur, Kanti, Sahebganj and Minapur blocks growing the crop. The new nurseries are intended to provide farmers in these areas with better planting material locally.

The department said winter sugarcane planting in the district would begin from October. Farmers interested in taking up the crop will also receive subsidies for improved planting material.

The department aims to encourage sugarcane cultivation over a larger area by making better quality planting material available to farmers. The initiative is expected to support higher farm incomes and provide further momentum to the district's sugarcane industry.