All efforts directed to double farmers’ income by 2022 : Radha Mohan

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Radha Mohan Singh while addressing a gathering of the farmers at North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 at Varanasi, UP, on February 23, 2018, said if agriculture is adopted as a business, it will not only help farmers live a life of self-esteem but also enable them double their income by 2022, the year in which India celebrates 75 years of Independence. India is a land of agriculture and farmers with 65% population dependent on agriculture, the Minister said.

The Fair was jointly organized by ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA), India, Department of Agriculture, Uttar Pradesh Government and Association for Promotion of Innovations in Vegetables (APIV).

The 3-day North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 saw participation of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and New Delhi. The Fair will provide detail information on ways to double farmer’s income through food nutrition and livelihood security. Scientific and technical guidance are also being provided to farmers to help them solve the problems related to agriculture sector.

Radha Mohan said that India is home to 17.6% of world population, 15% livestock, 4.2% water body, 2.4% land and with only 124 million hectare of agriculture land, it is a challenging task to double farmers’ income but the Government is working on it. In order to achieve this objective, several programmes are being run at the national level by the Ministry and ICAR, according to a PIB release.

The Minister said that such farmer fairs help in transfer of advanced agricultural scientific techniques related to horticulture, fishing, poultry, animal husbandry and food processing and value addition to the farmers of rural areas. The Fair will be helpful in providing information about the techniques of sustainable and profitable farming in horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, mushrooms cultivation and organic farming to the farmers. This will enable them to double their earnings, Radha Mohan said.

The Minister said that the Agriculture Ministry is working to make farmers of India rich. For this, several programmes are being implemented like Farmer FIRST, ARYA, student READY, Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, post-harvest technology, food processing, price augmentation, region-specific agriculture education and Research & dissemination, he added.

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