Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday underscored the need for small farmers organising themselves into Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) to get better return for their produce.
Laying remotely from New Delhi the foundation stone of the administrative buildings of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Kandukur in Prakasam district, he said that small farmers can benefit from the vast network of KVKs at the district-level under the ₹1 lakh crore Agricultural Infrastructure Fund launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the creation of 10,000 FPOs.
“FPOs will increase the capacity of farmers and usher in prosperity for their families,” Mr. Tomar said.
Speaking on the importance of crop insurance, Mr. Tomar lamented that despite the hard work of farmers, scientists and agriculture departments for enhancing farm production and income, farmers suffer losses due to natural disasters and sometimes lose their entire investment as well. This is why the Prime Minister’s improved crop insurance scheme to compensate for farmers’ losses was launched, he said.
More than ₹13,000 crore had been paid as premium on behalf of farmers, who had received ₹58,000 crore towards settlement of their claims. More farmers should take advantage of the insurance scheme, he said. He stressed the need for farmers getting the full benefits of agricultural technology.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Chaudhary expressed confidence that the additional KVKs would make an important contribution in transferring modern knowledge of agriculture to farmers.
YSRCP MP Adala Prabhakar Reddy thanked Mr. Tomar for establishing the KVK in drought-prone Kandukur area of Prakasam district which formed part of his Nellore Lok Sabha Constituency.
Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, along with Dr. A.K. Singh, DDG (AE), ICAR, Dr Y.G. Prasad, Director, ATARI, Dr. Damodar Reddy, Director, CTRI, Dr. Anuradha, Head, KVK, Scientific Officers were among those present.
