Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Chouhan on Saturday attended the alumni meet of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, and appealed to scientists to work for small and marginal farmers and bring a revolution in Indian agriculture.

He said that about 86 per cent of the farmers are small-marginal farmers. “We have to create farming models where farmers can earn their livelihood properly even in farming of up to one hectare,” he said.

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Mr Chouhan said that “let us together make a roadmap on which not only the welfare of Indian agriculture and farmers can be achieved, but let us make India the food basket of the world, feed the world, and export.”

The Minister stressed on the need to make India self-reliant in pulses and oilseeds. “Adoption of technological advancement is absolutely necessary to increase the income of our farmers and to meet the changing scenario,” he said.

“We have to ensure that our agricultural policy and research bring a positive change in the lives of small and marginal farmers,” he said.

The Agriculture Minister said that “it is my insistence to completely change the scenario of agriculture. I want to connect farmers with science. We have to connect farmers with science and for this the Krishi Vigyan Kendra is very useful.”

Mr Chouhan said the vision and mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to take the agriculture sector forward and bring benefits to the farmers. “Since the day I became Agriculture Minister, I have been thinking day and night about how to make the lives of farmers better,” the Agriculture Minister said.

The IARI meet was addressed by Dr R S Paroda, former Director General ICAR; Dr Ramesh Chand, Member, Niti Aayog; and Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary DARE and Director General ICAR.

IARI Director Dr A K Singh, DDG Dr R S Aggarwal were also present. These experts had an in-depth discussion on the challenges and prospects of Indian agriculture and stressed the need for scientific approach and policy reforms to address the problems of farmers.

Dr Ramesh Chand said that it is imperative to understand the real problems of farmers and find solutions in policy making. “Our priority should be to make agricultural policies friendly to small and marginal farmers. We have to ensure that they can use the latest technologies and resources,” he added.

Dr Paroda said that the need of the hour is to upgrade Indian agriculture with the help of innovation and scientific research. “We have to test and implement new technologies in collaboration with farmers, which will increase their yield and income,” he said.

Dr Pathak stressed the need for collective efforts for advancement in the agriculture sector. He said that it is only through collaboration between the government, scientific community and farmers that Indian agriculture can be taken new heights.

The concluded that collective efforts are necessary to enhance the income of farmers and promote technological advancement in the agriculture sector. The participants assured their support to promote innovation and research in Indian agriculture.

The scientists and experts shared their views and resolved to take concrete steps to make Indian agriculture self-reliant and prosperous. They stressed on the need to increase investment in agricultural research and development and talked about the introduction of new schemes and programmes to help farmers.

All experts and scientists present at the meeting took a pledge to secure and enrich the future of Indian agriculture. They stressed that it is not only the duty of the government and the scientific community, but of the entire country, to help the farmers and take Indian agriculture to new heights.