North News
Pune, December 23
India’s agriculture sector contributes 18 percent to the country’s GDP, with the central government working to further strengthen its resilience, said Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday. The Agriculture Minister said that his government is fully committed to making India the world’s food basket. Speaking at the Platinum Jubilee Conference of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune, Chouhan emphasized India’s agricultural strength, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and outlined the government’s commitment to making India the world’s food basket.
Chouhan highlighted the need for agricultural research to extend beyond labs and directly benefit farmers. He also underscored the importance of natural farming to ensure sustainable growth and reduce the overuse of pesticides. The government is focused on increasing storage capacity for farmers and developing schemes to help them transport their produce to distant markets.
On the occasion, Chouhan also discussed the upcoming river linking project, set to launch on 25 December 2024, which aims to address the water scarcity issues in drought-prone areas by connecting rivers across India. He also spoke about efforts to reduce agricultural production costs, including subsidies and enhanced support prices for farmers.
To further bridge the gap between research and practical applications, Chouhan advocated for multilingual dissemination of agricultural information and encouraged collaboration between scientists and farmers to solve sector challenges.
