Jaipur, Chief Minister Smt.
Vasundhara Raje has said that the farmers of Rajasthan should be benefitted by
the innovations and new experiments being practices in agriculture sector in
the country and the world. "State government is committed to ensure that
the farmers become progressive, take advantage of new technologies and thus be
prosperous," she said.
Smt. Raje was addressing
a function on the occasion of inauguration of a seed processing centre and a
training centre for farmers at the Centre of Excellence in Dhindhol village
near Bassi in Jaipur on Tuesday. She said that the farmers of the state could feel
proud by practicing new methods and adopting techniques in their agricultural
fields.
The CM said that the
idea of unconventional farming conceived by her government in 2005 could get
shape in Dhindhol in the form of olive and other crops. "We learnt about
Israel doing well in agriculture, despite being a desert state, by way of
adopting new techniques and then decided to make it possible for Rajasthan.
After talking to the then Union Minister of Agriculture a team of Israeli
experts was invited here, which gave valuable suggestions for Rajasthan
according to its local geographical and environmental conditions.
Smt. Raje stated that
when the first olive plant reached Rajasthan from Israel, it was taken as a
funny thing. "However, now the same plant has become a tree. It has given
shape to our idea of unconventional farming and the olive plants are now being
sent from our nursery to Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and other
states. Many progressive farmers are visiting the centre at Bassi," she said.
Talking about the
necessity of certification of seeds the Chief Minister said that only
error-free and certified seeds should reach the farmers. State government has
put in place a system for certification of seeds and certification was needed
even for exported seeds, she said.
Smt. Raje also
criticized excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture, particularly
for horticultural produces. "The public does not like such crops as they
cause lots of health problems. Farmers should adopt organic farming, at least
in a part of their fields, for horticultural crops. You should also practice
drip irrigation methods to save water," she appealed.
The CM informed the
farmers about the river-linking project in the state and said that very soon
positive results would be witnessed by all in the form of rise in underground
water-level and reduction of dark zone regions. She said that her government
has increased subsidy on solar water pumps, made allocations worth Rs 1,400
crore for wasteland development and promoted investments to the tune of Rs
1,000 for food processing. Bonus and additional premium above the minimum
support prices too were announced for wheat, barley, pulses and oilseeds.
Prior to this, Smt. Raje
visited the Centre of Excellence and saw the olive, capsicum, cherry tomato,
strawberry, cucumber, gerbera flower and other crops being produced using
Israeli techniques. She also inspected the
bee-keeping and other practices at the centre. State Agriculture Minister Prabhulal Saini accompanied her.
During this event,
Members of Parliament Shri Ramcharan Bohra and Shri Harish Meena, MLAs Lakshmi Narayan Meena, Shankar Lal Sharma and Jagdish Meena, former
MLA Kanhaiya Lal Meena, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture Ashok
Sampatram, Principal Secretary Horticulture BK Meena, Secretary and
Commissioner Agriculture Shri Kuldeep Ranka, sarpanch of Lalgarh village Ranjit Meena, other public representatives, progressive farmers, dignitaries
and villagers were present.
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