Crop pattern change needed to make villages ideal: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari Saturday said experiments in the crop pattern followed by farmers was needed to make villages ideal and asked heads of villages to lead the change.

Speaking at the 'Navrashtra Sarpanch Samrat and Agrotech' award ceremony here, Gadkari said panchayat heads were interacting with farmers at the ground level and, therefore, should be catalysts in the progress of villages.

He told the gathering that the country's civic hierarchy starts from the village gram sabha before moving on to higher groupings like municipal corporations and governments.

"If each sarpanch resolves to make their village an ideal one, the entire country would become an ideal one," he said.

Speaking on change in crop pattern, he said, "There is surplus production of sugar, wheat and pulses in the country. We need to change our crop pattern and pursue alternate crops as per market demand. The village sarpanch should take a lead in this as well as in farm experiments to reduce production cost."