VP Naidu calls for land policy reforms

Indian must strengthen the ecosystem that encourages agro-based industries and expand farm mechanism, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has stressed.

He also listed out 10 other initiatives to help increase productivity and generate adequate returns to farmers.

These were:
Consider substantive reforms in the land policy.
Use of good quality seeds which can enhance productivity by 15 to 20%.
A balanced use of fertilizers is essential for raising agricultural productivity.
Timely institutional credit which plays a pivotal role for adoption of innovations by marginal and small farmers.
Diversification by supplementing farming with allied activities like dairying, fisheries and poultry can contribute significantly to increasing farmers’ incomes.
Intensification of agriculture and combining agriculture with horticulture and mechanization of hill agriculture can increase the farmers’ income.
Build a much better understanding of water use.
Farmers need to realize larger share of the consumer price.
Develop climate change resilient farming practices.
Knowledge sharing processes must be streamlined.

The Vice President said that strategies for faster, inclusive and sustainable growth must address the issues faced by farmers.

He called for an enhanced investment from both public and private sectors.

“We need to formulate a long-term and a medium-term action plans detailing how private and public investments will be channelled and the strategic directions we should pursue to revitalize this sector,” he said.

We have moved from food import to self-sufficiency and exports. We have made the transition from subsistence farming to intensive and technology-led cultivation.

Naidu delivered the 14th Dr V.K.R.V. Rao Memorial Lecture at the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bengaluru on 19 Jan 2018. fii-news.com