Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Tuesday, said continuous efforts are being made to strengthen the economic condition of the farmers and encourage them towards trade and market.

Speaking at the MoU (memorandum of understanding) signing ceremony between agriculture sector investors and farmer producer organizations (FPO) today, Khattar said 29 MoUs have been made to give direct benefits through FPOs.

Among them, an MoU has also been signed with Chaudhary Charan Singh Agriculture University, Hisar, under which students of agriculture will also be able to do internships. He said that such steps would play an effective role in realising the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM said.

He said now the buyers will also get benefits as the prices in the market will also be less. He urged the investors and FPOs in the agriculture sector to give priority to the families in the state having an income of less than Rs One lakh by providing employment under Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana.

By doing this, they will get the fruits of virtue along with self-satisfaction. Apart from this, he asked 500 progressive farmers of the state to give training to small farmers in crop diversification, he said.

The CM said Haryana is emerging as a leading state in the formation of FPOs. They are also working to make agriculture beneficial. This will help in economic evaluation and small farmers will get huge benefits.

He said that the FPOs would improve the production, sales, quality, packing, processing, etc. for the farmers. Its objective is to collect produce from the farmers and provide them maximum value for it. Companies will buy fruits, vegetables, spices, and honey directly from farmers.

Khattar said with the objective of strengthening the FPOs, these companies will link the FPOs directly to the market. They will not need to sell their products in mandi and other places. These companies will directly procure fruits, vegetables, and honey from the farms, he said.

The CM said a horticulture market is being set up in Ganaur, Apple Market in Pinjore, Masala Market in Sonipat, and Flower Market in Gurugram to increase the production of farmers and to provide them with a market.

Apart from this, farmers of the NCR region are being encouraged to take up Peri-urban farming.