Will give priority to farmers' suggestions in Haryana budget: Khattar

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday interacted with farmers and invited suggestions from them on the state budget for development of the agriculture sector.

He said whatever necessary suggestions farmers make will be studied and given prominence in the state budget for financial year 2022-23.

The budget session of the Haryana assembly begins here next month.

The chief minister was speaking at a meeting organised for pre-budget consultation with farmers and stakeholders on agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries.

Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal, officials, farmers from across the state and vice chancellors of the Haryana Agriculture University, the Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and the Horticulture University also participated in this meeting virtually, a statement said.

Khattar, who holds the finance portfolio, said that in the budget, more focus will be given on development of the agriculture sector and increasing the income of farmers.

It is the effort of the government that farmers' income is increased by forming more Farmers' Producers Organisations, the chief minister said.

Khattar said that small units for making jaggery can also be set up in rural areas. "This will encourage farmers to adopt sugarcane production instead of crops like paddy," he said.

Similarly, efforts to set up processing units for different crops will also be encouraged, Khattar said, according to the statement.

He said that instead of traditional farming like paddy and wheat, farmers would be encouraged to switch over to alternative crops.

Farmers will be encouraged to take up pulses, horticulture crops and fisheries under crop diversification method, and incentives will also be given to such farmers, Khattar said.

To save groundwater sources, emphasis will be given to increase the production of other crops instead of paddy, he said.

He said that dairy farming is also a good option to increase the income of the farmers

There are immense employment opportunities in all categories of the agriculture sector, Khattar said.

Employment opportunities in this sector will be increased by training the youth, he said.