Tomar says the Government is working on Digital Agri Mission
The Government is investing Rs.6,865 crore on creating 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar told the AriTech Summit in Delhi on 14 Sept 2022.
Of these, 3,000 have become FPOs. If small farmers join these FPOs, then the area under cultivation increases, collective power of the farmers will increase, he said.
The government is also working in the field of pulses and oilseeds. Both were areas of scarcity, he said.
“Farmers have ventured into pulses and have made huge leaps in production. There is still a gap in oilseeds, for which the government is working on the oilseed mission.
“We know that edible oils have to be imported. Palm oil accounts for 56% of the edible oil consumed in our country, so the Rs.11,000 crore Palm Oil Mission has been started.”
About 28 lakh hectare area in the country is suitable for palm oil cultivation, he informed. In the first phase, efforts are being made to increase the palm cultivation to 6 lakh hectares.
“When the palm oil crop comes to fruition after three to four years, the import dependence on edible oil will be less,” added Tomar.
The Minister underlined the need to deal with the challenges of the agriculture sector, and elaborated on how technology should be introduced in it, how to increase the availability of private investment and how to create employment opportunities.
Further, Tomar said that the government is working on Digital Agri Mission for interaction with the farmers and relevant authorities.
If transparency will increase through technology, then all the farmers will be able to get the full benefits of all schemes, he pointed out.
The Digital Agri Mission aims bring together farmers, agricultural areas, government schemes, central and state governments as well as banks. If all stakeholders are brought on this platform, then the benefits of the schemes will be easily available.
“Farmers are being linked with mechanization. The government is promoting drone technology,” he said.
The use of more technology and increase in transparency in agriculture, the more it will benefit agriculture and the country will move forward,” said Tomar. fiinews.com
