Agri Min urges progressive farmers to make farming profitable without subsidies

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday urged 'progressive' farmers to think of contributing to the country's farm GDP and set example by making farming profitable without depending on government subsidies.

He, however, made it clear that the government is committed towards providing subsidies to farmers and it will continue.

Tomar also said that doubling farmers' income by 2022, set by the Prime Minister, is not the government's target alone, it is the target of each farmer.

"We would not have reached to the current level of production without the government support. However, there is a thinking that we (farmers) will stand up if the government gives subsidies. In anyway, the government is committed to support farmers and will continue to do so," Tomar said.

 

However, it is important to realise what will happen if there was no government subsidies. "Can we still make our agriculture profitable?" he said.

"You (progressive farmers) should think over this reality sitting in your farm field and take steps to raise farm output without depending on government and make efforts to adopt new technologies and innovations to get better results," Tomar added.

The minister was addressing a brainstorming session on technological innovations and strategies for farmers' prosperity in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh organised by agri-research body ICAR here.

Stating that farm GDP has not been growing despite huge spending on the sector, Tomar said that progressive farmers, who are better aware than small and marginal farmers, should seriously think about taking steps to increase farm GDP.

"If progressive farmers dont' study GDP, what will small kisans do who do not even have a platform to discuss about such things nor aware of KVKs (Krishi Vigyan Kendras)," he said.

Progressive farmers should keep in mind what is the contribution of foodgrain, poultry, fishery and animal husbandry to the overall agri GDP and take measures accordingly, he said and added, "If you don't think, then we will roam in darkness."

As per the second estimate, growth rate of agriculture and allied sector was 2.9 per cent in 2018-19 fiscal, down from 5 per cent in 2017-18.

Noting that a robust agriculture growth is key to the robust economy, the minister said that the government has launched several schemes to boost farmers' income.

However, achieving the target of each scheme is not possible without the participation of all kinds of farmers, he said, adding that the effort is to make each one a progressive farmer.

Addressing the event, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal said the government has made procedures easy to ensure farmers get credit from banks easily.

He also urged the farmers to take advantage of central schemes on crop insurance, pension and PM-KISAN.

The government is planning to hold brainstorming sessions with states as part of its efforts to fix gaps in achieving the target of the doubling farmers' income by 2022.