Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said agriculture exports have an important role to play in doubling farmers’ income, and stressed the need to boost India’s outbound shipments to the top-5 countries in agricultural exports. According to an official statement, Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday addressed the second day of the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Initiatives and Schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Speaking at the event, Tomar asked the states to take advantage of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund so that the benefits can be passed on to the small and marginal farmers who do not have the facility of storage and cold storage at the farm gate. On Digital Agriculture Mission, he said that database of farmers is our asset and country-centric program will usher in delivery, reducing seepage, better policy making and smart farming.
He said that the database of 5.5 crore farmers is ready and work is on to verify the others from the land records. Tomar said that the Union Cabinet has recently approved the National Edible Oil Mission (NMEO-OP) for palm oil with focus on North Eastern Region and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Through this scheme, he said that the production of edible oils in the country will be accelerated, which will reduce the import of edible oils. This mission will immensely benefit the palm oil farmers, increase capital investment, generate employment, reduce dependence on imports and increase the income of farmers. During the meeting, the northeastern states appreciated the National Edible Oil-Oil Palm Mission launched by the Central Government and assured cooperation at their level in its implementation.
Addressing the conference, Goyal said that the central government is working closely with the state governments to transform the future of farmers. He said that food security is synonymous with farmers’ security and reforms for farmers have put India on the path of self-reliant India. Goyal said in the statement that agricultural exports have an important role to play in doubling the income of farmers and India should aim to be among the top-5 agricultural exporting countries.
According to government data, India’s exports of agriculture and allied products grew by 17.34 per cent to USD 41.25 billion in 2020-21. Talking about ‘One District-One Product’, the Minister said that 106 products have been identified from 103 districts and districts should be promoted as export hubs to ensure that local becomes global. He informed that red rice is now being exported to USA and jackfruit from Tripura is being sent to UK. Free trade agreements are being worked out for better markets.
Union Ministers of State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje and Kailash Choudhary were present in the meeting. The Chief Ministers and Agriculture Ministers appreciated the efforts made by the Central Government for the progress of the agriculture sector and gave their suggestions regarding various schemes and some regional problems. Additional Secretary Vivek Agarwal made a presentation on the themes of the conference. He outlined the vision of Atmanirbhar Agriculture which will transform farmers into entrepreneurs with higher income and better quality of life, make India the food basket of the world and make agriculture an investment opportunity.
To achieve self-reliance, 10,000 Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs), export-oriented clusters, organic-oriented clusters and digital agriculture will be set up. The Government of Karnataka made a presentation on the Crop Survey Project and APEDA made a presentation on Agricultural Exports.
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