Center Launches National Campaign to Educate Farmers…
With the upcoming Kharif sowing season, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced a nationwide 15-day campaign starting May 29 to raise awareness among farmers about modern agricultural technologies and new seed varieties.
The campaign, named Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, will run from May 29 to June 12. The goal is to reach 1 to 1.5 crore farmers across 700 districts in India. To achieve this, the Centre, in collaboration with state governments, will form 2,000 teams comprising agricultural scientists, officials, and progressive farmers. Each team will hold three meetings daily at the district level, aiming to engage with 10 to 12 lakh farmers every day.
Speaking at the National Conference on Agriculture for the Kharif Campaign, Chouhan emphasized the need to improve agricultural extension services to boost the productivity and production of key crops. He stressed that new technologies and research developed in laboratories should be made available to farmers in the field within a set timeframe.
Chouhan stated that both central and state governments would actively participate in the awareness campaign to directly interact with farmers and educate them on various topics. These include climate-resilient seed varieties, fertilizer availability, monsoon forecasts, and government schemes for farmers. He urged state agriculture ministers to lead the campaign efforts in their respective regions and mentioned that he would also write to State Chief Ministers to ensure the campaign’s success.
The Minister highlighted the vast potential for growth in India’s agriculture sector and called for joint efforts by the Centre and the States to realize this. He pointed out that India’s crop productivity is still below the global average and stressed the need to improve yields by adopting modern technology and best farming practices.
He also noted the significant variation in crop yields among different states and said the first step should be to reduce this gap before aiming to match global standards. Also Read | Why protecting farmers matters now more than ever?
Chouhan emphasized the importance of protecting soil health and encouraged the use of soil health cards issued by the government to guide proper fertilizer usage.
He concluded by outlining the progress made in the agriculture sector since 2014 and reaffirmed the government’s focus on increasing production, lowering input costs, and ensuring fair prices for farmers through expanded procurement at Minimum Support Prices (MSP).
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