Jaitley commits to boosting agriculture

During pre-budget consultations, representatives tell FM about importance of timely decision on MSP on lines of BJP manifesto

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today kick-started his pre-budget consultations with farm sector representatives, assuring them of government's resolve to boost the sector despite resource crunch.

The representatives told Jaitley about the importance of timely decision on minimum support price on the lines of the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto. The manifesto had promised MSP of 50% over cost of production.

They also apprised him of the efficient procurement policy, priority for mechanisation of all commodities, setting up of commodity wise board, water conservation as a national priority with focus on dip and sprinkler irrigation among other things.
 

The other issues that figured include timely completion of irrigation projects and linking of rivers, setting up of National Water Authority and River Valley Authorities among others. They also called for a new Kissan Channel to create awareness among farmers about new technologies, government programmes and quality parameters among others.

The representatives of the farm sector included noted expert M S Swaminathan, Ashok Vishandass, chairman of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices, Ramesh Chand of National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, Changal Reddy of Consortium of Indian Farmers Association.