Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday donned the role of a branding expert during an interaction with farmers from five States through webcast on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee of the country’s premier R&D organisation, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Modi gave them a tip or two on branding their products for better marketing.
“Try to give a specific name to your product (Vetiver or khus), this would give them unique identity and will increase their marketing prospects,” he said, while interacting with a farmer from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, who grew khus.
He also suggested farmers from the coastal State to consider venturing into the production of seaweeds which have a huge commercial potential.
Talking to Akshay Sarma, a successful farmer from Jorhat in Assam who was a botany student, the Prime Minister expressed his happiness saying, “I am happy that despite being a botany student you decided to return to farming while many don’t. We need such spirit.”
He pointed out that his success story will encourage thousands of people of the country.
Sounding amused at the minute details narrated by another farmer, Bishwajit Pandit from Jorhat about the plant varieties and pesticides needed, Modi in a jest commented that he looked less of a farmer and more of a scientist.
The Prime Minister was also curious to know from them if it was possible to introduce new flavours of tea to keep up with the changing tastes of the people for tea. “What should be done to meet the demand of the public which is looking for new flavours and if the farmers can keep up with these changes,” he asked.
In his interaction with the farmers from Hyderabad in Telangana, Modi wanted to know about the type of crops they were interested to grow while those from Jammu, and Palampur in Himachal Pradesh shared with him the problems being faced by them and the commercial value of aromatic plants.
After the interaction, the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation seven new varieties of plants that have ornamental and medicinal qualities developed by the CSIR laboratories, to be grown especially in the five States of Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
The plants include new varieties of lemongrass and Citronella developed by North East Institute of Science and Technology, Vetiver and Turmeric (Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants), Rose-scented Geranium (Institute of Integrative Medicine) and Calla lily and Gerbera plants from the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology.
The CSIR has proposed to promote these varieties in a big way in the respective regions to boost the income of the farmers.