Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar on Saturday said the State Government plans to start group farming by stitching together cooperatives of small farmers to make them self-dependent and increase their income. He said the Government is also working on a mechanism to save the farmers from the menace of distress sale.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the four-day CII Agro Tech 2014 — which he jointly inaugurated with his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal and Premier of Saskatchewan, Canada, Bard Wall — Khattar asked the debt-ridden marginal farmers to take to horticulture and start growing flowers, fruits, medicinal plants and vegetables besides dairy farming which would help them improve their financial condition.
The Chief Minister said the Haryana Government had lined up plans to launch Soil Health Cards for farmers under which cheap and high-yielding seeds would be provided. The country needs second Green Revolution to promote farming but it can be made possible only with the help of farmers, farm-related industries and farm scientists. “There is need for coordination between the traditional and new farming techniques to fetch the farmers, better price for their produce, and promote farming,” he said.
Khattar said agriculture constitutes the backbone of the economies of both Haryana and Punjab and there was need to step up agricultural production, especially due to the fact that small farmers depend solely on farming and the prices of agricultural products have been globalised. “The great Deen Dayal Upadhyay said that if farming, industry, transport, trade and social services advanced, the society would be a happy place to live in, and the nation would make progress”, he added.
The Chief Minister said the productive capacity of land posed a challenge because chemical fertilisers were being used which, if used for long period of time, affected productivity. One should prefer organic manure to fight this problem. The water level has been depleting due to the traditional methods of irrigation which should be replaced with such new methods as drip irrigation and fountain irrigation. “Today, climate change also affects farming. We need to pay attention to water management and, in this case, the private sector should come forward and play a role”, he said.
Khattar said since the stock of agricultural land was getting depleted by the day due to increased urbanization and industrialization, dense farming should be promoted by using new techniques. Also, laboratories should be set up and training programmes organised for farmers in which the farm universities of both Haryana and Punjab can play a great role. Besides, both states should promote dairy farming. The Haryana Government stands committed to providing storage facility to farmers and the private sector can play a big role in processing and storage.
Badal said Haryana and Punjab had the oldest canals in the country and if their condition is improved, the production of food grains could be increased by 20 per cent. The marketing system is good in both states, he added.
The Premier of Saskatchewan, Canada, Bard Wall and Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture, Ashish Bahuguna, expressed their views. CII President, Ajay S. Shriram, Chairman, CII Agro Tech 2014, Pawan Goenka, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, Chandrajit Banerjee, Chairman, CII Northern Region, Zubin Irani also spoke on the occasion.Khattar, Badal and Bard Wall also released the Theme Paper of CII Agro Tech-2014.