PRIME Minister Narendra Modi onThursday said the past decade was the first since Independence in which Indian agriculture grew more than 4 per cent a year, and that a large number of small farmers have come out of poverty during this period. Speaking at the Kisan Tak Bharat Agriculture Conference organised by the ‘India Today’ Group, the Prime Minister cited a World Bank study that 50 crore Indians have overcome poverty in just 12-13 years, with poverty falling faster in villages. “Agriculture is our culture, our tradition and the basis of our social life,” he said, adding that a developed India is not possible without making agriculture “smarter” and farmers “selfreliant”. Modi described agriculture as the main stream among the“seven streams of power” he had mentioned from the Red Fort. He criticised past Governments, saying they were “satisfied” with farmers filling the country’s grain stores, even as the market, technology, weather and people’s food habits changed.

 

“It is not enough to fill the grain stores,” the Prime Minister said. Citing achievements of the last decade, he said India exports farm produce worth over Rs 4 lakh crore annually and is the world’s top producer of milk, pulses, jute, rice, wheat, cotton, fruits and vegetables, and fish, as well as the largest producer of millets. Modi said milk production had risen 70 per cent in a decade, egg production 90 per cent, and fish production more than doubled. The Prime Minister also said about 12 lakh solar pumps have been provided under PMKUSUM, soil testing labs rose to over 8,400 from a handful in 2014, and there are over 7,500 Krishi Vigyan Kendras. He added that 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations have been set up. The Prime Minister also asked farmers to move to chemicalfree natural farming, saying,“We are killing our mother in front of our eyes”.

 

He also said that without modernising agriculture and making farmers self-reliant, the vision of Viksit Bharat is not possible. The Government has spent Rs 16 lakh crore in the last 12 years to keep fertilisers affordable for farmers, he pointed out. The Prime Minister urged farmers not to rely only on traditional crops such as wheat, rice and sugarcane. He asked farm equipment makers and start-ups to focus on manufacturing solar-powered equipment.