VP calls for making agriculture viable, profitable & sustainable

VP calls for making agriculture viable, profitable & sustainable
Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for making agriculture viable, profitable and sustainable to improve the lot of farmers and ensure home-grown food security

Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for making agriculture viable, profitable and sustainable to improve the lot of farmers and ensure home-grown food security.
Inaugurating a two-day National Consultation on Making Agriculture Sustainable and Profitable at Vaikuntha Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, Pune in Maharashtra today, the Vice President said concerted, coordinated and focused action is required to double the farmers’ income in the coming years. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, former Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, renowned agricultural scientist, Prof. MS Swaminathan, former Agriculture Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, agriculture economist, Ashok Gulati, several farm experts, farmers and others were present on the occasion.
Saying that evolving a multi-pronged strategy to make agriculture viable, profitable and sustainable was the main purpose of this consultation, the Vice President stressed the need to identify gaps in policy formulation. Our policies should be more pro farmer and there should be a pronounced bias towards agriculture, he added.
The Vice President emphasised that 4 Is – Irrigation, Infrastructure, Investment and Insurance sectors – need to be strengthened for an integrated development of farm sector. He further said that it was important to make agriculture sustainable through a judicious use of scarce resources like water, electricity and by avoiding indiscriminate use of fertilisers and pesticides.
Observing that populist programmes like loan waivers and free power would not provide lasting solutions, the Vice President said that farmers must be provided timely credit at affordable interest rates. Farmers have to be given the latest know-how and trained in the do-how to improve farm productivity, he added.
The Vice President said that along with increased production, we need efficient distribution of food grains. Only then we can move our country forward to achieve the goal of zero hunger and adequate nutrition for all, he added.
The Vice President wanted e-NAM implementation to be further streamlined and expedited. Expressing his concern over the restrictions on export of agriculture produce, he advocated to strike a balance between the interests of farmers and consumers. He said that consumers are vocal and well organise, he added.
The Vice President said that Lab-to-Land transfer of technologies need to be enhanced. Referring to the need to promote diversification of crops, he said that farmers should be encouraged to cultivate high value crops like fruits, vegetables, condiments, pulses, spices and sugarcane.
The Vice President said that it is important to encourage farmers to take up allied activities like poultry, dairy, fisheries and aquaculture to not only enhance farmers income but also to provide a cushion against the adverse impact of failed crop.
Vice President said although many initiatives were taken to boost agricultural growth, there is a need to examine if policy changes are required. Let us do some prudent thinking, apply our minds and offer solutions to improve the lot of farmers, who are the backbone of our economy, he added.

Share on

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

÷ 3 = 2