Naidu welcomes reforms announced in agriculture sector

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday expressed happiness over the government's decision to remove curbs on inter-state sale of agri products, saying it will greatly benefit farmers.

"Happy the government decided to remove curbs on inter-state sale of agri-produce and formulate a central law to provide adequate choices to farmers to sell their produce at attractive prices," the Vice President's Secretariat tweeted quoting Naidu.

He said these reforms were "long overdue" and will greatly benefit the farmers.

Seeking to boost the economy hit by the coronavirus lockdown, the government on Friday extended "Operation Greens" from tomato, onion and potato to all fruits and vegetables by providing an additional fund of Rs 500 crore.

This money would go into providing subsidy on transportation from surplus to deficient markets as well as on storages, including cold storages.

The scheme prevents any distress sale by farmers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Naidu also said deregulation to sell cereals, edible oil, oilseeds, potatoes and onions and measures to strengthen agri-infra, fisheries, animal husbandry, and micro food enterprises will boost agricultural growth and benefit both producers and consumers.