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HomePosts Tagged "M Venkaiah Naidu"
Agro chems – Fertilizers, AgroPolicy, Nature, Organic, Sustainability

According to M Venkaiah Naidu, organic farming is the way forward

The Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu underlined the importance of organic farming for sustainable and stable development. He said that natural resources such as soil and water are not unlimited and the future of mankind depends on their conservation.

Addressing a gathering after releasing the book titled Bhumi Suposhan (meaning – soil nutrition) published by Akshay Krishi Parivar at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas, the Vice President expressed his concern over the degradation of soil due to the overuse of pesticides and fertilisers and stressed the need for creating awareness on this important issue. He also said that unchecked extraction of groundwater is fast depleting our groundwater table leading to a reduction in moisture content in the soil, thus turning fertile land into barren land.

Listing out various benefits of organic farming, the Vice President opined that it not only improves soil health but also reduces farmers’ input costs. Locally available resources such as cow dung and waste organic matter can be used to prepare low-cost organic manure, thus increasing farmers’ income.

Acknowledging Green Revolution’s role in ensuring the country’s food security, Naidu highlighted some of its unintended consequences such as the uncontrolled use of pesticides. Appreciating various governmental and individual efforts for soil conservation, he said the network of laboratories for soil testing is being strengthened and natural farming is being promoted in ecologically sensitive areas such as villages adjacent to the river Ganga.

Mentioning that around six lakh farmers are practising organic farming on approximately 38 lakh hectares of land in India, the Vice President expressed his happiness over the fact that many hilly states successfully adopted organic farming. He said that the smaller states have shown that organic farming is particularly beneficial to our small and marginal farmers. He said that there is a growing awareness among the masses about the harmful effects of chemical farming and they are willing to pay for organic products.

Naidu also stressed the need for the popularisation of traditional farming practices. He wanted agricultural universities to focus more on organic and natural farming and promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship among the youth. The Vice President said agriculture is not just farmers’ concern, rather all of us are equal stakeholders in its development as food is a basic necessity for everyone. He urged parliamentarians, political parties and policymakers to give priority to agriculture.

Naidu urged people, particularly youngsters, to consume traditional foods that are nutritious and suitable to Indian conditions. 

Praising Akshya Krishi Parivar for bringing out ‘Bhumi Suposhan’ – a commemorative publication of the Nationwide Bhumi Suposhan and Samrakshan Abhiyan, the Vice President wanted this book to be translated into Indian languages so that it could reach the maximum number of farmers. He also asked scientists and researchers to translate their works into people’s languages for the larger benefit of the public. Naidu also stressed that early education should be in the child’s mother tongue. 

Similarly, local language should be used in administration and courts.

Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kadsiddheshwar Swamiji, Kaneri Math, Maharashtra, Bhagaiah, Member of the National Executive and Ex Sah-Sarkaryawah, Rashriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Manoj Solanki, President, Akshay Krishi Parivar, Dr GR Chintala Govindarajulu, NABARD Chairman, Scientists, Agriculturists and other dignitaries were present.

According to M Venkaiah Naidu, organic farming

AgroPolicy, R&D, Textile industry

Urges for steps to be taken to guide the farmers through better research and by adopting best practices

The Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu called upon all stakeholders to make concerted efforts to improve cotton yield and productivity in India to enhance farmers’ incomes. Expressing his concern over the low yield of Indian cotton compared to other major cotton growers in the world, Naidu said that steps must be taken to guide the farmers through better research and by adopting best practices.

Naidu called for increasing the global competitiveness of Indian cotton textiles and “capitalise on our traditional strengths, shift to modern agronomic practices and consolidate our position as a global leader in the cotton industry.”

Noting the importance of the textiles sector as the second-largest employer in the country after agriculture, Naidu emphasised improving farm productivity, increasing mechanisation, upskilling textile workers, and hand-holding small firms to give a boost to the sector. Naidu also suggested diversifying into speciality cotton such as the extra-long staple (ELS) cotton and organic cotton.

The Vice President was inaugurating the CITI-CDRA Golden Jubilee Celebrations from Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) is a leading industry chamber of the textile sector in India and the Cotton Development and Research Association (CDRA) is the extension arm of CITI, undertaking various seed development and extension activities in the cotton sector.

Shri Naidu expressed his concern that despite being the largest cotton producer (23 per cent) in the world and having the highest area under cotton cultivation (39 per cent of world area), the yield per hectare in India remained at a low of 460 kg lint per hectare when compared to the world average of 800 kg lint per hectare. To address this, he called for improving the planting density, taking up mechanisation of cotton harvest and giving a thrust to agronomy research.

He said, “We need to improve our seed technology, increase yield, adopt global best practices, produce clean and high-quality cotton and brand it better to improve the farmers’ income.”

The Vice President noted that while India has a strong global footprint in cotton yarn, it has to improve its competitiveness in fabrics and apparel. He called for hand-holding small firms and upskilling textile workers to give a fillip to the sector. He said government schemes such as the Amended – Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS) and SAMARTH (Scheme for Capacity Building in the Textile Sector) are aimed at achieving these objectives.

On this occasion, Shri Naidu conferred awards to excelling cotton scientists and farmers in CITI-CDRA Project Areas. He also released a Coffee Table Book – ‘Millennial Shades of Cotton’ at the event.
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, T Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI, PD Patodia, Chairman, Standing Committee on Cotton of CITI-CDRA, Shri Rakesh Mehra, Deputy Chairman, CITI, Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Prem Malik, Co-Chairman, Standing Committee on Cotton of CITI CDRA and other dignitaries were present during the event.

Urges for steps to be taken to