Hyderabad: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday emphasized that dialogue is the way forward to resolve the issues raised by farmers.
Interacting with a group of progressive farmers on the occasion of Kisan Diwas at his residence in Hyderabad, Naidu said that any issue could be resolved through talks and added that the government has already declared that they are always ready to hold a dialogue with the farmers’ organizations.
Expressing his happiness to interact with the farmers on the occasion of ‘Kisan Diwas’, he said that food security and progress of the nation were closely linked to agriculture, which has to be protected and made sustainable and profitable.
Stating that the government has taken many initiatives with a view to doubling the income of farmers, he stressed the need to increase productivity and make agriculture climate-resilient. There was also a need to promote crop diversification, organic farming and nutrition-rich varieties.
According to an official release, the Vice President said it was equally important to create adequate infrastructure, including cold storage facilities, transport and marketing mechanism for farmers. He said the e-NAM facility would help the farmers to effectively market their produce.
Highlighting the need to supplement the income of farmers, he quoted a study carried out by MANAGE, which said that there were no suicides by farmers who had taken up allied activities and backyard poultry.
Naidu lauded the country’s farming community for their selfless service in producing record food grains in spite of the hardship caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
The farmers, some of whom came along with their family members, shared their experiences with Naidu.
All of them informed the Vice President that they were quite happy after switching over to organic and natural farming as they were getting good profits because of diversification and intercrop cultivation.