Centre will not discriminate farmers based on their political affiliation: Union Agriculture Minister

Promising help to Karnataka in uplifting farmers through infrastructure development, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said that the Centre will, without any discrimination, help the State in agri processing and value addition activities to help increase farmers’ income.

“The Centre will not discriminate farmers based on their political affiliations. It is the responsibility of the State and the Central governments to work for farmers’ welfare. Farmers are above all political affiliation,” he said here at the valedictory function of the International Trade Fair.

His statement came in response to State Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy who, pointing out at effective implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises, sought further financial assistance in different schemes for developing food parks, cold storages, transport services, branding and exports of Karnataka’s agri produce to bring better income to farmers.

Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy also said that agriculture should grow beyond politics.

Offering a slew of helping measures from the Centre, the Union Minister said that though Karnataka is the largest producer of toor dal in the country, the average yield per hectare is less than the national average. “Under pulse mission, the Centre will offer help to increase productivity through scientific and technical support.”

Announcing the setting up of 25 ‘seed villages’, he said that the Centre will particularly assist setting up of ‘seed villages’ where farmers would produce their own seeds, in the toor dal growing regions of the State.

“The Centre will encourage FPOs, farmers’ organisations, and private sector with a financial support of ₹25 lakh each to set up 35 dal mills,” he said.

Acknowledging that coconut production had declined owing to old or disease-afflicted coconut plantations, Mr. Chouhan said that the Coconut Development Board will encourage the planting of new high yielding varieties of coconut. Technical teams have been set up to help prevent diseases in coconut trees, and that Karnataka should utilise their services, he added.

The Union Minister said: “Rice varieties that could reduce labour cost, consume 20% less water and could be harvested 18 to 20 days earlier are being developed. The ICAR is developing special varieties that could suit the needs of Karnataka. The Centre will help Karnataka take its millets and processed food produce to the international market.”

He also said that the Centre will release ₹154 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana shortly along with another ₹191 crore.

The Union Agriculture Minister also visited the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research here and interacted with scientists to understand research and extension activities. He also interacted with farmers and incubatees who have benenfited from IIHR technologies. He also interacted with directors of the ICAR institutes located in Bengaluru.