Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das said that in the development of the nation, the contribution of the villages, poor farmers and workers was a must for the development of state and nation.
Speaking at the Global Agriculture and Food Summit-2018 in Ranchi, organised by Jharkhand government and FICCI, Das said agriculture was the soul of the nation and base of the culture and traditions. He said that in fact all our festivals are also directly and indirectly related to the agriculture. He said that in Jharkhand 60-70 percent population was dependent on agriculture. The chief minister said that the state government had sanctioned sufficient funds for the development of agriculture and allied activities and framed a separate food processing policy which is focused on bottling and packaging as food processing was an important link between the farmers and urban customers.
Raghubar Das said that during the function online foundation had been laid for 50 food processing companies which would create employment opportunities for the youth and even the farmers would get right cost of their products.
He suggested that farmers should try to earn one third of income should come from agriculture another one third from animal husbandry and another one third from horticulture, floriculture and solar farming. He said that farmers should do solar farming on barren land and the same would be procured by the state government through grid at Rs 3 per unit.
The chief minister said power would reach in all homes by 2018 and by May 2019 separate feeders would be set for agriculture so that farmers can get power for six hours for agriculture works while separate feeders would be provided for house hold and industrial usages. Das said by August 2019 power would be available in the rural areas 24 x 7. He said that since the people were living in the era of globalisation therefore the farmers should use modern technology.