VP M Venkaiah Naidu bats for strategy to make agriculture viable

​Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has stressed the need to adopt a multi-pronged strategy to make agriculture viable and profitable. The farm income must be supplemented by non-farm occupations and value addition through food processing, he stressed. Naidu was addressing scientists, farm experts and farmers at the Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture (CRIDA), in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Stating that agriculture is the backbone of country’s economy, Venkaiah Naidu said unless this sector performs well consistently the trajectory of the country’s progress would not be smooth. He further said that agriculture needs to undergo transformation as there are changes in climate, market conditions, world order and even food habits. Allied sectors like fisheries, poultry, horticulture, food processing and packaging need to be promoted to improve farmers’ income, he added.

Venkaiah Naidu said that the need of the hour is to make agriculture profitable and sustainable with consistent increase in its growth rate. All the stakeholders involved in agriculture must come to the rescue of the “Annadata” (farmer) or else we will be failing in our moral duty, he added.

The Vice President said that vagaries of weather - from high intensity rainfall events to prolonged dry spells have drastically impacted agriculture. He further said that hailstorms, heat waves and perennial droughts are some of the causes for agrarian distress. The uncertainties are driving farmers into debt traps and also leading to their suicides, he added.

Naidu stressed on the need to address the agrarian crisis in a systematic way so that the farmers become prosperous. He further said that creating awareness among the farmers on traditional and modern methods of water conservation will help in effective water budgeting for agricultural activities. Protection of cattle health is important to increase farmers' income, he added.