'Evergreen revolution' has started in agri sector: Naidu

Union minister Venkaiah Naidu today said the Centre and the state government are working towards doubling the farmers' income by 2022, and focusing on four 'I' i.E. Irrigation, infrastructure, interest rates and insurance.
The Union Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister said an 'evergreen revolution' has started in the country under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in Rajasthan under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
Naidu along with Chief Minister Raje inaugurated GRAM- 2017 at RAC ground in Kota on Wednesday.
The organisation of divisional level Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM-2017) in Kota is a step forward in this direction, he said.

Naidu said the country is making progress in every sector but there are more efforts needed in the agriculture sector.
The minister further said that imparting latest technological knowledge, development of advanced markets, agro-processing facilities and development of basic infrastructure are necessary for farmers.

"We need to develop villages and cities simultaneously if we want to develop the nation. Keeping this in view Smart City and Adarsh Gram schemes have been launched by the Centre," Naidu said.
Praising the Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet organised in Jaipur in November 2016, he said it was a unique event of its kind and had been instrumental in extending benefits to thousands of farmers in the state.

The GRAM-2017 of Kota will also help farmers to learn about new techniques, instruments, crop cycles, agro processing methods and other innovations in agriculture sector, the Union minister said.
Naidu had all praise for Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA). He said MJSA started in Rajasthan can be an example for other states.
While addressing the gathering at GRAM-2017, Raje called upon farmers to adopt organic farming and said crops produced using organic farming fetch higher prices and are also good for health.
She asked farmers to keep some part of their land separate for organic farming.
To promote organic farming around 1150 clusters are being prepared, she said.

The Chief Minister said if any farmer is willing to set up agro-processing unit with the investment of Rs 40 lakh, the government will provide subsidy of up to Rs 20 lakh.
It is the time when farmers get involved in agro- processing and agro industries to increase their income, she said.
She said crop loan of worth Rs 15,000 crore has been distributed in the state which has benefited around 25 lakh farmers. Farmers are being given crop loan through co- operative banks at the interest rate of 7.1 per cent. Crop insurance portal, crop cutting experiment app and Girdavari app have been developed to provide facility to farmers, she said.

Raje said 45 lakh soil health cards have been distributed to farmers in the last three years and it will reach around 70 lakh till the month of July. She appealed to the people of the state to plant five saplings on special occasions like birthday, marriage and anniversary etc to make the state green.
State Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini and Ambassador of Malaysia in India Shri Hidayat Bin Abdul Hamid also addressed the gathering. Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Neelkamla Darbari divulged the details about the GRAM-2017 in the beginning.