9th Chintan Shibir at Vadodara focuses on Agriculture on 2nd Day

Ahmedabad, Thursday: The discussion on the second day of the 9thChintan Shibir-2018 being held at the GSFC Complex at Vadodara in presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupanicantered around eight major issues of the model Gujarat Khetiwadi Adhiniyam-2007.

Agriculture Minister R.C. Faldu led the discussion on ‘Possibilities in Agricultural Sector’ around the eight major issues covered in the model Gujarat Khetiwadi Adhiniyam-2007, incorporated in the budget proposals for agriculture and animal husbandry. He said that most of the genuine problems of the farmers could be solved by the district level officers, well within the framework of rules and regulations. He asked agriculture department officers work as guides of the farmers.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the deadline of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 for which many innovative schemes have to be taken up. Lands shown as Gochar for grazing in revenue records could not be used for any other purpose, but has been used for growing fodder with good result.

He called for the need to adopt scientific methods to increase milk yieldper cattle and farm yield per acre. He said the SSP dam on the Narmada is complete, while work on canal network is on. He suggested extension services to reach out to the farmers with stress on micro irrigation and drip irrigation.

Education Minister BhupendrasinhChudasma with experience in agriculture said our economy is still dependent on agriculture, demanding optimum utilisation of seeds, insecticides, water and fertilizers, reducing use of chemical fertilizers with greater use of organic methods.

Energy Minister Saurabhbhai Patel saidthat production decides the price of food and market decides the remunerative prices. It isnot in our hand. He said the initiatives taken up during the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Summits should be pursued by going abroad to study abroad to guide domestic farmers accordingly to help them double their income.

Minister of State for Irrigation and Water Supply Parbatbhai Patel said farm produces’ price depends on demand and supply. He said the agricultural producers should be allowed to decide the price of the products, as is in vogue in the manufacturing sector.

Chief Secretary Dr J.N. Singh suggested early steps to firm up marketing of farm produces and milk to ensure farmers and cattle owners get remunerative prices. Horticulture is another way to augment farmers’ income. There is need to create awareness among farmers for increasing the scope of contract farming, maintaining quality to fetch better prices.

Additional Chief Secretary for Home and Narmada & Water Resources M.S. Dagur said that with completion of the SardarSarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNL) project the technical staff begiven extension with assignment for water management.

Additional Chief Secretary for Agriculture Sanjay Prasad in his presentation said that about 96 lakh hectares of land is under agriculture in Gujarat and the state government’s efforts resulted in 46 per cent increase in agricultural production during the last 15 years.

He listed KrishiMahotsav, Jyoti Gram Yojna, Agro Business Policy, soil health card, i-khedut portal, cold storages, micro irrigation, tissue culture, animal healthcare, dairy development, fishery, crop insurance and centres of excellence and diversification of crops with detailed statistics responsible for the change.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Managing Director R.M. Sodhi, invited as an expert, said that past efforts have resulted in increasing milk production. He said that animal husbandry has to be treated at par with agriculture, motivating new generation take up animal husbandry, marketing and rationalising export-import policy of agriculture produces to achieve doubling farmers’ income.

Another expert, Dr Sukhpal Singh of Centre for Management in Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) stressed judicious use of water, modernization of farming, making technology available at affordable prices, post-harvest management, rationalising farm produce marketing and remunerative prices as the right steps to make farmers prosperous.

Others present at the business session included Minister of State for Forest & Environment RamanbhaiPatkar, senior government officers Messrs Dilip Rana, D.P. Desai, H.K. Patel, Ms. Anju Sharma, Subhash, M.K. Jadav, K. Kailashnathan, D.N. Pandey, Rajiv Gupta, PoonamchandParmar, B.K. Kumar, Vikrant Pandey, Rajagopalan, Udit Agrawal, S.K. Langa, Ms. Sonal Mishra and Ms. D. Thara.

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