Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Anil Bonde Friday hailed the Union Budget stating it was in the interest of farmers, rural population as well as the poor.
He said agriculture-related announcements in the budget would double farm income and also reduce cost of production for cultivators.
"The budget has an integrated approach to doubling farmers' income as well as reducing the cost of production. The budget is in the interest of farmers, villages and the poor," Bonde said.
He further said the budget has given emphasis on providing proper prices to farmers and on allied farm produce rather than only conventional crops.
Replying to a query on farmers being booked in Akola for sowing genetically-modified seeds, Bonde said, "I have given instructions not to book farmers, but to take action against those selling these unauthorised seeds."
Several hundred farmers had, on June 10, sowed genetically modified Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) cotton and brinjal in Maharashtra's Akola district in protest against the Union government's ban on them.
The sowing of HT Bt cotton and Bt brinjal had taken place over a two-acre area in Akoli Jahangir village in Akola.
Twelve farmers were later booked by Hiwarkhed and Akot police there for sowing these seeds.
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