“To turn farming into a profitable venture, every farmer should become an entrepreneur and he should grow, pack and sell his farm produce,” Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil has said.
Addressing the gathering after laying foundation stone for the 2,500-tonne capacity cold storage unit and inaugurating Vigilance Cell of Joint Director Agriculture in Kalaburagi on Friday, Mr. Patil said that the cold storage units had the potential to transform agriculture, making it sustainable and profitable for even smallholder farmers.
The Minister said that the cold storage units would empower farmers to decide the selling period and get a profitable price for the produce. Recently, the State government sanctioned 11 such cold storage units across the State. A sum of ₹10,000 crore had been allocated for establishing cold storage chain across the country under Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Bharat Scheme, he said.
Mr. Patil said that vigilance cell inaugurated in Kalaburagi will help check supply of fake seeds or fertilizers and substandard quality of pesticides. Earlier, there were only two vigilance cells at Bengaluru and Belagavi divisions, now cells had been established in Mysuru and Kalaburagi divisions too. In the last three years, the vigilance cell had seized agriculture equipment worth ₹28.35 crore and lodged 304 cases. As many as 232 trade licences were suspended and 25 licences were cancelled for violating the norms, he said.
The BJP-led government was committed to the education of children coming from farmer’s families. Last year, the State government had spent around ₹569 crore for awarding the Raita Vidya Nidhi scholarship to five lakh children of farmers. And this year, the scholarship programme has been extended to the children of labourers too, around 6 lakh students across the State would be benefited by the scheme, he added.
To encourage the use of farm machinery and to reduce fuel expenditure burden, the State government had launched Raitha Shakti - a diesel subsidy scheme in which farmers could avail ₹250 per acre up to maximum for 5 acres land. This scheme would come into effect from September,2022, Mr. Patil added.
Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani, KKRDB Chairman Dattatraya Patil Revoor, legislators Avinash Jadhav, Shashil G. Namoshi, Sunil Vallyapur, B.G. Patil, Commissioner for Agriculture Department B. Sharat, Deputy Commissioner Yeshwant Gurukar were present.
