Agriculture must be developed as private enterprise : Minister

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on March 20, 2018, signed an MoU to conduct skill development training programmes for agriculture and allied sector, on a regular basis, at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs). Meanwhile, the skill development training programmes currently being run across KVKs will continue.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh expressed happiness over the signing of MoU, which he said, will help increase cooperation. Also present on the occasion were Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Parshottam Rupala,  Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Krishna Raj, along with Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Anant Kumar Hegde, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Radha Mohan said his Ministry is making fast progress in fulfilling PM Narendra Modi’s dream of “Kaushal Bharat-Kushal Bharat”. He said the government believes that agriculture must be developed as a private enterprise so that it attracts more youth. For this, he said, the Ministry is working at four levels, namely : Increase productivity, Post-harvest management and fair-prices to the farmers for their produce, Lower risk in agriculture, and Strengthen and develop other aspects of farmers’ income such as horticulture, animal husbandry, beekeeping, dairying, fisheries etc, according to a PIB release.

Due to the latest developments in agriculture, several new dimensions in agri-warehousing, cold chain, supply chain, dairy, poultry, meat, fishery, horticulture, agricultural mechanization, micro-irrigation, hydroponic greenhouses etc have emerged for skilled and trained youths to gain self-employment.

TRadha Mohan said due to the low presence of agro-based industries in rural areas, it is important to increase the ratio of self-employment to employment to 100%. He said there is a need to study the Skill Gap Analysis in agriculture sector by the Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI).