Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday called for a self audit of Indian Council of Agricultural Research Institutions (ICAR) and said not enough attention has been paid to agriculture and agricultural development.

Speaking at the Natural and Organic farmers’ summit -2024 organised by ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Medak, Telangana,

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Dhankhar said, “I firmly believe that we have not been able to give as much attention to agriculture and agricultural development as we should have. Some changes have come in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, but look at their budget. There are thousands of scientists, close to 5,000. Around 25,000 people are employed. The budget exceeds 8,000 crore. We are conducting research for whom?”

“Whose life are we trying to change? Is there any change happening in their lives? Friends, the time has come to audit these institutions, and the best way to audit an institution is through self-audit. Every institution must resolve that we will perform and outperform. We will do work that provides relief to farmers, and we will make farmers aware. If even 100 farmers visit these institutions daily, a significant change will come. It will take the form of a positive movement,” the vice-president said.

“So, my strong request is to the government, to the people working in these institutions, to the elected representatives, and to such institutions, including those like Eklavya Rural Development, that they create systems for the welfare of farmers so that the farmers of India become some of the best in the world!” he said.

Talking about PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and fertilizer subsidy, Dhankhar said, “We help farmers. Three times a year, farmers receive the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi. There is a need for changes in that because it is permanent, but there is inflation in the economy, which is natural. We need to think about fertilizers and subsidies. Is this subsidy reaching the farmers correctly?”

“I will strongly appeal to these Institutes and Krishi Vigyan Kendras to come up with a formula so that this subsidy reaches the farmers directly because technically, India has set a benchmark globally. When more than 100 million farmers, or around that number, can receive this benefit three times a year, they can also get the benefit of subsidies………..one result will be that when the subsidy directly reaches their accounts, they will be influenced to move towards natural and organic farming,” he said.

Expressing concern over exclusion of the farming community from value addition and marketing of agricultural produce, Dhankhar said that “….there should be a change in the mindset of the farmer. The farmer and their family need to pay attention to how they can contribute to a vast economy like India’s. At the moment, it is a cause of concern that our farming community is not involved in the marketing of its produce.”