Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Thursday laid foundation stone for 50 Food Processing Units worth Rs 271 crore and which will provide nearly 6000 jobs.
They also launched Jaivik Jharkhand to facilitate organic farming on the first day of the two-day Global Agriculture & Food Summit being organised here.
Addressing the gathering comprised of state ministers, business and foreign delegates and farmers, Singh said that Mahatma Gandhi used to say India is a country of villages and the countrys soul resided there. His clear message was to strengthen the villages after independence, which in turn meant, strengthening the farmers.
Stating that the credit of introducing Kissan Credit Card went to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and several other reforms took place like rural road development and in agriculture sector during Vajpayee regime, Singh said Jharkhand government is on the right direction to realise Vajpayees dreams.
Jharkhand has great agriculture potential. It will give real strength to the country. Small and marginal farmers have to be given special attention to uplift their situation, he said.
Stating that soil health card has greater role in the uplift of farmers, he said till 2014 there was no yardstick for soil health card, but since 2014 till now 54 lakh soil health cards were made.
India is the largest producer of milk now and the country is moving faster towards micro irrigation, he added.
Coming down heavily on pending agriculture projects despite Swaminathans report placed in 2006, Singh said that the Narendra Modi government has taken many steps in the agriculture sector. The centre increased agriculture budget, he added.
Farmers are being given loans. Production of pulses has gone up tremendously and has become cheaper. Government has given safeguard and provided sufficient cushion to the farmers, he said.
Predicting Jharkhand will become number one in fish farming, Singh said that Chief Minister Raghubar Das is committed to better the life of the farmers and the Centre is providing all help and support.
Saying that livestock is also the backbone of village economy, the union minister said that the Modi government has set up Gokul Mission.
Five partner countries---China, Tunisia, Mongolia, Israel and the Philippines are participating in the two-day Summit, besides Morocco being the focus country and there will be more than 50 foreign delegates.
Besides this, about 10,000 farmers & delegates are also participating in the two-day event.
The objective of the Summit is to showcase the rich agriculture eco system of Jharkhand and utilize the untapped potential of agriculture and food sector and to develop sectoral value chains, which enables forward and backward market linkages.
Also to provide platform for networking to business community, government representatives, progressive farmers, agriculture entrepreneurs and other stake holders.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
