Farmers should be encouraged to diversify: Radha Mohan Singh

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today said farmers should be encouraged to diversify so as to increase their income.

"In an effort to boost the agriculture sector, the government has set an ambitious goal to double farmers' income by 2022. It has unveiled strategies ranging from irrigation to crop insurance. This will require new approaches and innovations, as well as increasing collaboration between the private sector and other stakeholders," Singh said.

Speaking on the occasion of golden jubilee celebration of Compound Livestock Feed Manufacturers Association here, Singh said, "We need to encourage farmers to diversify in fields like horticulture, fisheries, fruit-bearing plants, trees and livestock farming, which can easily multiply farmers' income."

This will also require integrated value chains that connect `farm to fork', competitive markets that provide better prices and an enabling environment that supports innovation and action, he said.

Several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, are developing public-private- partnership platforms to bring together government, private sector, farmers' organisations and civil society to jointly develop solutions for "integrated value-chain projects that will provide farmers with more and better opportunities", he said.

There is a strong commitment from the industry to support this model though business leadership and support, the minister said.

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