Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today underscored the need for joint efforts by state government and private entrepreneurs to bail out the farmers at this critical juncture, saying there is a need to ensure food security in the country.
Interacting with a delegation of globally acclaimed agro and crop science giant Syngenta here, which was disbursing free agri-kits to 5,300 farmers of 12 districts of the state, Badal said the hard working and resilient farmers of the state had played a vanguard role in making the country self reliant in food production.
However, the Chief Minister lamented that today the farmers of the country were in crisis for which they needed to be bailed out by a collective effort by the state government and industry.
Badal said apart from making the farmers aware about the ways and means to enhance the productivity of their crops, it was all the more important to acquaint them with emerging trends in agriculture.
Hailing the efforts made by Syngenta group in distributing these free kits, Badal asked them to adopt the villages or form clusters to apprise farmers about the methods to be adopted for increasing their harvest, so that they could get maximum returns.
He said the endeavours of Syngenta group also needed to be replicated by other such firms.
Badal assured fulsome support and cooperation to the visiting delegation for this noble cause so as to transform the destiny of the farmers.
"I ardently believe that combined efforts by the state government and the private entrepreneurs can do wonders for safeguarding the interests of the farmers," added Badal.
Reeling under severe crop loss, the farmers in Punjab have been demanding compensation for the loss of cotton due to whitefly. Besides, they also sought financial aid for farm labourers and the families of farmers who committed suicide.
Protesting farmers have also resorted to agitation over the same issue.
Taking part in deliberations Vice President Commercial
Acceptance South Asia of Syngenta KC Ravi, Commercial Unit Head North Susheel Kumar and KS Narayanan apprised the Chief Minister that this initiative called 'Krishi Vikas' was an integral part of company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) under which a program on "Demonstration of Good Agriculture Practices in Wheat Cultivation" was implemented by providing the farmers with support for their next crop cycle of wheat.
Through this programme Syngenta supplied farmers with special kits containing treated quality seed and crop care solutions for wheat.
The company distributed these kits in Bhatinda, Muktsar, Moga, Mansa, Barnala, Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Faridkot.
The delegation also informed the Chief Minister that 212 MT of the popular wheat seed variety WH-1105 were procured from the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) for catering to 5300 acres.
Besides distributing the kits, Syngenta also imparted agronomy and stewardship training to the growers which would enable them to make optimal use of the products.
