In a bid to make agriculture sustainable and profitable by focusing more on research and development, union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the national seminar at Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour on Saturday. He said, the government is working on promotion of agriculture through various schemes and programmes, which are impacting the agriculture sector, as well as increasing the income of farmers. During the last 8 years, unprecedented work has been done in the agriculture sector in the country. While making agriculture sustainable, the existing challenges are being addressed on priority through various effective measures.
In a seminar on “Recent Developments in Nutrient Management Strategies for Sustainable Agriculture: Indian Context”, the Tomar said that the central government has left no stone unturned in providing income support to the farmers. So far, more than Rs 2 lakh crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of 11.5 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. This is the biggest programme in the world undertaken by the Modi government. Facilities worth over Rupees 1.5 lakh crore in the agriculture sector are being made available under the special package including the Rs. 1 lakh crore ‘Agriculture Infrastructure Fund’.
As a result of the farmer friendly policies of the government and the hard work of farmers and scientists, India is a prosperous nation today in terms of agricultural produce and India has supplied food grains to other countries even in adverse times. Today, India is at the first or second place in the world in terms of production of most of the agricultural produce, while agricultural produce worth Rs.3.75 lakh crore were exported, which is a record.
Tomar said that there is a need to work towards making maximum use of technology in agriculture, attracting farmers towards remunerative crops, reducing the cost of farming, providing the best price to farmers for their produce, reducing dependence on fertilizers, motivating them towards soil health with a view to save power and water in irrigation and increase productivity. The Government of India is working closely with the state governments in this regard. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is also working at a fast pace, along with the agricultural universities and other institutes.
Tomar said that Bihar is a farming state, where about 70 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture. Bihar is also excellent from the point of view of agricultural productivity, while many crop varieties have been developed here, due to which the state is not only getting good returns, but is also contributing to the agricultural growth of the country. Describing the management of nutrients as the need of the hour, he said that such a seminar would definitely be beneficial in this regard.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor Dr. Arun Kumar presented a progress report of the university. A souvenir published on the occasion was released by the guests. More than 250 scientists, researchers and teachers are participating in the two-day seminar. A report on the findings of the seminar will be provided by the university to the central and state government and on the basis of the report, the university will take appropriate steps to give further impetus to sustainable agriculture.
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