SME Times News Bureau | 27 May, 2015
Calling for a "big
change" in agriculture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday
launched the DD Kisan channel and pitched for increasing average
productivity of paddy to three tonnes per hectare from the present
two tonnes.
Launching the
channel on the first anniversary of his government, Modi said the
agriculture sector had been "neglected" and there was need
to make the sector "vibrant".
He said 50 percent
of farmers would not know if there is an agricultural department of
the government.
"There is need
for a big change in agriculture... It has been left to the fate of
farmers," he said.
Modi said that if
the country has to move forward, villages must make progress and if
villages are to progress, it was essential for agriculture to grow.
Modi, who was
repeatedly cheered by the gathering during his nearly 45-minute
speech, gave many suggestions to boost farm income.
"Agriculture
should be divided into three parts. Try this experiment and
agriculture can be self-sufficient. Keep one-third of field for
traditional agriculture, one-third for animal husbandry and one-third
for timber," he said.
He said the country
has to import timber but lakhs of hectares of land has been wasted
due to fences erected by people along their fields.
"Plant timber
trees (instead of a fence). Plant them when a girl child is born and
cut them when she gets married," he said, adding that the sale
of this wood will meet expenses for the girl's marriage.
He said there was a
time when agriculture was the most preferred profession but the
situation has changed and it was now regarded below service and
business.
Modi said if modern
technology was taken to the fields, the youth of the country will be
again connected to agriculture and provide a new momentum to the
economy.
The prime minister
said the country's population was rising and the only way to ensure
food security was to boost productivity.
"At present,
the average paddy productivity in India is two tonnes per hectare
whereas the global average is three tonnes per hectare. We will have
to think how we can reach the global average. It looks small (step)
but is a difficult task," he said.
He also pitched for
competition among the sub-divisions in the country about good
agriculture practices.
Modi gave credit to
late prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for the country gaining
self-sufficiency in food after being dependent on imports in the
first few years after independence.
"Lal Bahadur
Shastri ji gave a mantra 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', and the farmer of the
nation got inspired by that mantra," he said.
Noting that India
imports pulses and oilseeds, he said the country should attain
self-sufficiency in their production.
He said farmers can
benefit the most from information on weather being obtained through
satellites and asked DD Kisan to provide regular updates so that it
becomes a habit with farmers.
Modi said the
channel should also inform farmers about global markets so that they
can take informed decisions about the crops they sow.
He suggested that
the channel can start competitions about best agricultural practices
by inviting farmers and facilitate video-conferencing about
innovations so that these can be replicated across the country.
Prasar Bharati
chairman A. Surya Praskah said the channel was an idea of the prime
minister.
He said the channel
was in Hindi but the best programmes would be dubbed in regional
languages.
Minister of State
for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said the
first programme of the government on its first anniversary was
dedicated to farmers.