Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated a 3-day North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 in Varanasi which saw participation of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion Singh said if agriculture is adopted as a business, it will not only help farmers live a life of self-esteem but also enable them to double their income in five years i.e. by 2022.
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, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and Association for Promotion of Innovations in Vegetables (APIV).
The Fair aims to provide detailed information on ways to double farmer’s income through food nutrition and livelihood security. Scientific and technical guidance are also being provided to farmers in order to help them solve the problems related to agriculture sector, read a PIB release.
Singh 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.
The Minister said that such farmer fairs are a part of India’s social fabric. It helps in the transfer of advanced agricultural scientific techniques to fields to farmers.
Singh said that the Ministry is working to make farmers of India rich. For this, several programs 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.
