BIZ-VP-FARMING

Vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu

Saturday called for strengthening agriculture by bringing in

long-term structural changes as farming is our basic culture

providing livelihood to nearly 60 percent of our population.

Agriculture has to be made profitable, sustainable and

resilient and the farmers have to be encouraged to diversify

into allied activities like poultry, horticulture and fishing

to ensure sustainable livelihood, which can ensure home-grown

food security for all, he said.

"Agriculture should be our prime area of focus. As you

all are aware, it is the backbone of our economy and the

primary source of livelihood for nearly 60 percent of our

population. Agriculture is the basic culture of our country,"

Naidu said while addressing an event organised by industry

lobby CII here.

The comments assume importance in the wake of agrarian

distress--driven by falling prices and rising input costs

leading to their indebtedness--which has led to tens of

hundreds of farmers committing suicides across the country.

This was visible in the recent state elections where

the ruling BJP was voted out in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and

Chhattisgarh-states which has seen hundreds of farmers ending

their lives-while in Telengana, the ruling TRS was voted back

with a larger mandate, as it has been providing cost-effective

cash support to farmers.

"With value addition, the Indian food processing

industry and horticulture have immense scope for expanding its

footprint," he added.

A well-nourished and healthy nation can be a wealthy

nation and therefore, there is a need to increase the

resilience of agriculture by making it much more rewarding

for the farmers, he said, adding, "we must adopt organic

farming and promote judicious use of inputs and irrigation."

The country should also strive to promote innovation

and invest more time and money in R&D, he said stressing on

the need for innovations addressing the everyday problems of

the common man.

"Science and technology should ultimately result in

the betterment of human condition," he added.

Stating that our youth possess all the qualities

required to lead this country to prosperity, the vice-

president underlined the need for imparting them with skills

and providing them with opportunities so that we can reap the

demographic dividend.

"The private sector can and should step up skilling

programmes to generate more employment for the youth," he

said and emphasised that the private sector should provide

equal opportunity and to not to practice discrimination

against women in any form or any level.

"Let women empowerment and gender equality be among

the founding principles of all our businesses," he said.