The Prime Minister will be The Chief Guest at the Plenary Session of The National Conference on 18th January
National
Conference is a Fine Example of Cooperative Federalism where The Ministers and
Officers, Responsible for Agriculture in The Country are Going to Deliberate
Together: Shri Radha Mohan Singh
Greenfield Airport at Pakyong is expected to be Completed and
Become Functional by 2017: Dr Jitendra Singh
National
Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare will Convene between
17-18 January, 2016 at Gangtok
Union Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh and Union
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North
Eastern Region (DoNER) today here jointly interact with the media on
National Conference on Sustainable Agriculture And Farmers’ Welfare will
convene between 17-18 January, 2016 at Gangtok, Sikkim. Shri Singh informed
that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit
to Sikkim from 18th of this month and important highlights of the visit include
focus on Sikkim’s “Organic Programme”, 3-day “Sikkim Organic Festival” and an
All India National Conference on “Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers’
Welfare”. Also present was MoS Agriculture Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan.
Union
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister said that it is a fine example of
cooperative federalism where the ministers and officers, responsible for
agriculture in the country are going to deliberate together for 2-days. They
will be supported by scientists, academics, bankers, experts and practitioners
so that the suggestions and recommendations are actionable. Minister added that
the National Conference will deliberate upon the challenges and identify
initiatives to transform agriculture based on sustainable and efficient use of
resources like soil & water, higher per unit yields, remunerative prices on
produce, risk coverage and mitigation of potential negative impact of climate
change.
Addressing the press
conference, Shri Singh said that government is focusing on “Organic Farming” in
Northeast and the 3-day Organic Festival will give a boost to this endeavor. By
year 2025, he said, India will be able to provide food for 150 crores of its
population.
Referring
to group insurance, agriculture investment and land lease investment as his
Ministry’s priority areas, Shri Singh said, all these different subjects will
be discussed in separate technical sessions during the proposed 2-day
conference. He also referred to “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana” (PMKSY)
which envisages “Har Khet Ko Pani” and “Per drop more crop”. Improvement in
agricultural productivity will also have to take the cognizance of climatic
variations and the need to bring resilience to climate.
Dr
Jitendra Singh, while addressing the press meet, said that Northeast has the
potential to be developed as a hub of organic farming and this is possible only
when the enormous available resources are sought to be channelised in a
scientific and systematic manner. Promotion of organic products, with Sikkim as
the nodal State, will not only help in generating revenue and employment
opportunities but will also be a great booster for the Government of India’s
“Act East Policy”.
Referring to some of the
other major projects in Sikkim, Dr Jitendra Singh referred to the Greenfield
Airport at Pakyong which is expected to be complete and become functional by
2017 and will emerge as one of the most beautiful destinations in the region.
In addition he said, there is also a plan to connect Sikkim with the country’s
rail network and after the present government took over under the leadership of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this will be the third North-Eastern State after
Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh to be brought on the rail map of India.
Dr Jitendra
Singh also referred to the plan for constructing alternative road highway to
Gangtok in Sikkim via West Bengal and two ropeways which will serve the purpose
of both tourism as well as transport.
Elaborate
details with presentations about the various aspects of “Organic Farming”,
agriculture and other important projects in Sikkim was also made during the
Press Meet.
The
Organic Mission Programme is to be carried out by the Union Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare with support of Union Ministry of DoNER and
in collaboration with the State Government of Sikkim.
Full text of
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh is:
“By 2025,
India’s population will grow to 1.4 billion, and by which time the water demand
for food production is expected to increase dramatically. This challenge is
bound to become acute due to depleting water resources, degrading land and
variable weather associated with climate change. There exist already issues
relating to viability of farming on account of small and marginal size, as also
inefficiencies of marketing system.
National
Conference on Sustainable Agriculture And Farmers’ Welfare will convene between
17-18 January, 2016 at Gangtok will deliberate upon these challenges and
identify initiatives to transform agriculture based on sustainable and
efficient use of resources like soil & water, higher per unit yields,
remunerative prices on produce, risk coverage and mitigation of potential
negative impact of climate change. The focus of the Conference will be on
enhanced water use efficiency, restoration & sustenance of soil health,
convergence & efficient use of resources, land lease, building resilience
to climate change through adaptive measures, secure farming through effective
crop insurance scheme, strengthening of agricultural value chain and building
capacity of farmers. Emphasis shall be to make agriculture a commercially
attractive proposition for youth, by making it more skill, technology and
knowledge centred. Issues like reducing cost of production and leveraging
digital technology will also be discussed.
The
Government is mindful of adopting a mission approach to integrate resources
that intersect agriculture and horticulture. Measures to harness the power of
demand driven innovations and science led technologies, for example conserving
rain water, enhancing water and nutrient use efficiency, crop diversification,
local value addition, linking farmers to equitable markets, checking storage
losses and wastage shall be important topics of discussion in this national
conference.
Convergence
and building capacity for collective action shall be the underlying theme.
Line ministries and departments of Government of India and State Governments,
research institutions and stakeholders will engage intensively keeping farmers
welfare at the center of design intervention.
The
Conference shall hold workshops on priority sectors in agriculture. A workshop
on convergence of agriculture and horticulture through our flagship programme
of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) has been slated. Other
workshops of equal importance include the vital issues of soil health,
marketing efficiencies, enhancing domestic production of pulses and oilseeds,
mitigation of weather and market risks and exploring economic opportunities in
agriculture.
Pradhan
Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) :
As
you know, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched PMKSY
to address the key challenge of scarce water as it relates to farming.
Agriculture uses 70% of fresh water resource for 17% of global population which
resides in India, though India has only 4% of global fresh water resources.
This conference aims to converge various schemes and programmes to harness
water to provide water to every farm. Once water reaches the farm, the
critical issue is its efficient use, so that each drop of water produces
optimal crop yield. Water use efficiency and soil moisture conservation in
rainfed and marginal areas is a vital topic on which ideas among experts and
practitioners will be exchanged. Maximum benefit is expected to accrue from
integrated watershed management including Har Khet Ko Pani intervention in
rain-fed areas. The participants will also discuss on deployment of remote
sensing, geographic information system, water budgeting, simulation models and
other science and management based tools to implement PMKSY.
Soil Health
Management
:
Apart
from water, soil is another important natural resource which is essential for
crop production. On account of indiscreet and unregulated use of fertilizers,
large tracts have been rendered saline and alkaline impacting the farming. The
Government, therefore, aims at collecting soil samples at farm level and
analyze them for 12 comprehensive parameters and advice the farmers on the
usage on fertilizers so as to realize optimal yields. The scheme also aims at
providing this facility to the farmers once in every cycle of 3 years. This
will help the farmers to not only reduce the cost of cultivation but also
sustain soil health while realizing higher yields. At the workshop, the
participants will deliberate upon this sustainable practice and suggest
innovative ways of involving students and scientists of agricultural colleges
and universities; imparting skills to youths who can then become entrepreneurs
in soil health management by availing loans from banks to build their
enterprises. The participants will also suggest innovative ways of
transferring the knowledge contained in soil health cards to 14 crore number of
landholders in the country. The Government is keen to build up scientific data
base on the soil status. For this purpose, it has commissioned a study through
Agro Economic Research Centre, Bengaluru to collect baseline data and then
examine the impact of soil health cards after one or two seasons. The workshop
will also deliberate upon effective use of neam coated urea by educating and
orienting the farmers on its regulated use. AERC, Bengaluru will take up a
similar impact study on Neem Coated Urea.
Organic
Farming
In
the context of ushering in another Green Revolution in rainfed and hilly areas
as also in the eastern part of India, where yield levels are low, the
Conference will discuss alternate technologies that can be adopted. One of the
technologies that the Ministry is promoting is organic farming through its
comprehensive Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana. The issues relating to
suitable varieties of package of practices, marketing and the con-commitment
aspects of certification and branding will also be discussed. The Conference
will keep in mind the country’s need to ensure food and nutrient security for
the growing population as the country adopts these new technologies. Hence,
focus will be brought on breeding of new varieties and new agronomic practices
that will be a new package of technology for low yield areas.
Crop
Insurance
:
Currently,
only about 20% of farmers in India are insured. Of the un-insured, though some
are aware but appear disinterested; many feel that the facility is not
available to them. It is vitally important that an effective Crop Insurance
scheme is rolled out to protect the farmers’ livelihood. The Government is
already readying itself to put in place a comprehensive and sustainable insurance
ecosystem, that will cover maximum number of farmers and secure them against
the unpredictable nature of farming in a meaningful manner.
Enhancing
Investment in Agriculture:
Any
Sector including agriculture requires capital investment so as to create the
required infrastructure that will serve as both backward and forward linkages
to the production activities. There are a large number of schemes that various
ministries of Government of India implement. These include PMKSY, MGNREGA,
RKVY, etc. The participants will deliberate upon ways of integrating the
resources and objectives of these programmes so as to enhance public investment
in agriculture and also effect the required synergy among different
investments. The Conference will also look at ways of using these investments
to serve as trigger to farmers to make private investment so that cumulative
public and private sector investments in agriculture improve. Related to this
issue is rational way of preparing district and state credit plans and availing
of funds under RIDF for a more comprehensive planning and utilization of
investments.
Policy on
Land Lease:
On account of
increasing population, the farm sizes are getting divided and fragmented. Of
the total number of 14 crore farm holds, more than 85% belong to small and
marginal farmers. The challenge that the agriculture sector faces is making the
farming viable under such conditions. As the Conference debates this issue,
the participants will b e expected to come up with creative suggestions. The
prevailing lease system is another issue that is hampering agricultural
growth. Since lease is not legally tenable under current provisions of the
Revenue Acts, though the lease system is quite prevalent across the country,
but is not recognized, the lessees are deprived of access to credit and
government entitlements like subsidy on seeds, relief etc. The participants
will put their minds together on the model Act and identify ways of making it
possible for lessees to be entitled to assistance from government and banks.
Sikkim :
Adoption of Organic Farming
Agriculture
being a complex system, that involves diverse production activities and
multiple stages starting from production to processing and marketing, all
concerned will have to put their minds and heads together to find implementable
solutions.
It is with
this objective that both the Central and the States/UTs Governments are getting
together at Gangtok. It is a fine example of cooperative federalism where the
ministers and officers, responsible for agriculture in the country are going to
deliberate together for 2-days. They will be supported by scientists,
academics, bankers, experts and practitioners so that the suggestions and
recommendations are actionable. This Conference is being jointly organized by
the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Government of
India and Government of Sikkim. Sikkim is the first state which is adopting
organic farming on a universal basis. It has been a journey for over 12 years
beginning 2003. The State has a legislation to back adoption of organic
farming as the only farm of cultivation in the state. It also has an Act that
prohibits use of agro-chemical in the state. It has already taken steps to
convert its entire arable extent of 74,000 ha. into organic farming. It is now
focusing on certification, branding, processing and marketing so that the
farmers get premium price on the organically cultivated produce. The Prime
Minister has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest at the Plenary Session of
the National Conference on 18th January, before whom the Groups will
make a presentation on the respective subjects. The Prime Minister will also
be inaugurating the Flower Show on 18th January and Organic Products
Exhibition on 19th January organized by Government of Sikkim.
For the
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, it is a privilege that the
Prime Minister will be giving his valuable time to this important conference on
Agriculture.”
