Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurates the fair
Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare inaugurated the Farmers’ Fair organised by the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh at the Santha Village of Morena District, Madhya Pradesh today. The fair was organised under the Farmer FIRST Programme Project.
The Union Minister urged the small and marginal farmers for making the Farmers’ Producers’ Organizations (FPOs) that can revolutionise the agriculture sector of the country. Tomar expressed his concerns on the major irrigation water-related problems like majority of farmers in Chambal Region use flood-irrigation resulting in low yield, quality of produce, decreasing water table and soil quality. The adaptation of the improved methods of irrigation through border strip, furrow, pressure irrigation with fertigation for improving the yield, income and water productivity was stressed in the Union Minister’s address.
Tomar accentuated on reducing the cost of production with direct seeding, bed planting, water management technologies, stopping the burning of farm residue and utilising for soil water storage and improving the soil quality and safer environment.
Prof Surapaneni Koteshwara Rao, Vice-Chancellor, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Gwalior emphasised promoting the integrated farming system, protected cultivation, vegetable production, processing and value-addition and agro-based enterprises for higher profit. Prof Rao also urged for developing the aggregation modules for the farmers on commodity and community-based group farming linked with the Farmers’ Producers’ Organizations that can help in increasing the farmers’ prosperity.
More than 1,000 farmers, rural youths, senior officials and the various dignitaries attended the fair.
