The government is leaving no stone unturned towards making India the food basket of the world, said Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Addressing the Platinum Jubilee Conference of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (AERC) in Pune on Monday, the minister said the work of researchers should not be confined to the lab but extend to
the farmers.
Affirming the commitment of the Modi Government to the agriculture sector, he said the contribution of the farm sector to the country’s GDP has been 18 per cent, especially during the time of Covid, the whole world has come to know that India’s agriculture sector is stronger than other countries.
Stating that the Central government has always been striving to strengthen this sector further, Chouhan said his government was working on many aspects in this direction. India’s culture and civilization is very old. Agriculture sector is also linked with this. Especially after the Second World War, it was India that started looking at the whole world as one family and guided it in this direction.
The minister said the earth is not made only for humans; it is made for all living creatures like insects and moths. In this context, calling for an end to the indiscriminate use of pesticides, Chouhan said it is the need of the hour that we have moved towards natural farming and we have to take this forward with full potential.
This, he said, would add value to our production. The government is continuously working on increasing the storage capacity of farmers. Taking a step forward in this direction, the Central government is working on a new scheme to deliver the farmers’ products to distant places. Under this, the state and Central governments are jointly working out plans to enable farmers to transport their products to other states and markets.
Disclosing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch the river linking project on 25 December, the minister said while many parts of the country face floods, others are affected by drought-like situations. To deal with this anomaly, a river linking project will soon be launched under the leadership of Mr Modi.
This scheme will benefit both the areas that receive heavy rainfall and those facing drought.
The agriculture minister said, “We should develop a technology that could irrigate more with less water.” Stressing on reducing the cost of production to boost the agriculture sector, Chouhan said last year, his government had provided 1.94 metric tonnes of subsidy to farmers. If a farmer needs money immediately, he no longer has to go to the money lender for this as the government has provided him with the facility of Kisan Credit Card to access money immediately.
Between 2014 and 2024, the government is giving at least double the minimum support price (MSP) on many products due to which farmers are getting relief on a large scale. He said, “We should not depend on imports all the time and should make such policies which can provide more benefits to the farmers.”
Congratulating all researchers and students, Chouhan said, “What have we gained and what have we lost in these 70 years needs introspection.”
Emphasising further strengthening the technical arrangements in this direction, he said farmers and the scientists associated with the agriculture sector should come together and solve their problems. The Central government has started a special programme “Modern Krishi Choupal” on DD Kisan Channel to help farmers. It’s a platform where
farmers, researchers, and scientists can sit together and exchange their views on the problems and new opportunities in the agriculture sector.
He said information related to the agriculture sector should not be limited to English language only, it is necessary to be published in different languages of India so that the distance between labs to land can be bridged.