UP govt to work to double farmers' income: Agri minister Shahi

Uttar Pradesh Agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi said today that the state government would make efforts to double the income of the farmers while adding that an increased foodgrain production is also envisaged.
"Without the development of the farmer, the development of the state and country will be a distant reality. The UP government will endeavour to double the income of the farmers. For this efforts will have to be made to reduce the input cost, while increasing the production," Shahi said.
He was addressing a seminar here on kharif crops.
"Scientific farming techniques, availability of funds at right time, soil testing, use of organic manure and crop insurance will be made available to the farmers, so as to boost the agricultural production," Shahi said.

He said that as compared to previous year's aim of 185.11 lakh metric tonnes foodgrain production, this year the target has been set at 194.62 lakh metric tonnes.
This year, we are targeting 151.30 lakh metric tonnes of paddy, as compared to 143.96 lakh metric tonnes last year, Shahi said.
He mentioned that 17.50 lakh packets of organic manure will be distributed to farmers in the state. Training will also be imparted to farmers, and benefits of various schemes will also be provided to them.