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Agriculture can make U.P. a trillion-dollar economy in next five years: Yogi
U.P. chief minister Yogi Adityanath said there were immense possibilities for growth of agriculture in the state and this potential could be tripled in five years if agriculture scientists, entrepreneurs of agri products and progressive farmers joined hands.
Lucknow: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that agriculture and allied sectors could play a key role in making Uttar Pradesh a trillion-dollar economy in next five years. Agriculture, he pointed out, had immense potential for growth in the state.
Yogi was addressing a seminar on “Roadmap for Development of Agriculture and Allied Sector in Uttar Pradesh,” with top agriculture scientists and progressive farmers, among others, participating in the programme.
“There are immense possibilities for growth of agriculture in UP and this potential can be tripled in five years if agriculture scientists, entrepreneurs of agri products and progressive farmers join hands,” he said.
“The importance of agriculture was very much evident during the pandemic when all other sectors save agriculture recorded negative growth in the country and the state,” the CM pointed out.
Stressing the need for promotion of natural farming in the state, he said organic farming based on zero-budgeting could help farmers increase the output with minimum input, provided agriculture scientists, entrepreneurs and progressive farmers all came together to support government efforts to promote natural farming. He regretted that most of agriculture scientists were not favourably inclined to the idea of organic farming.
The CM also suggested the use of modern technology by farmers to increase productivity. “A majority of farmers in UP have small land holdings and they are generally hesitant to use new technology. The farmers need to be told about the benefits of modern technology and scientists can play an important role in this,” he said.
The CM directed officials to compile suggestions and recommendations made by exerts and others in the seminar with a view to making an action plan to work further accordingly.
Earlier, agriculture scientists including Panjab Singh, AK Singh, GP Singh and others pointed out that UP needed transformational and not incremental changes to achieve new heights of growth in agriculture and the allied sectors.
They said not production but marketing of agri products was an issue and the government must it. They also suggested use of drones for sprinkling pesticides etc on crops in the fields. They said carbon farming was a new concept that UP could adopt to curb emissions and provide benefits to farmers financially.
They also recommended diversification of crops and conservation of natural resources ,including water. The scientists suggested formation of a committee to oversee, from time to time, implementation of recommendations and suggestions received in the seminar.
