Tripura ranks second in NE for farmer outreach under Viksit Krishi Abhiyan: Minister

The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan has created history in Tripura as it has reached 1,95,263 farmers, out of which 66,899 (34%) were women farmers, surpassing the initial target of 1.72 lakh farmers.

Addressing a press conference, Tripura Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that among the North Eastern states, including Sikkim, Tripura has reached the second-highest number of farmers after Assam through this campaign—an achievement unprecedented in the state’s history.

“The dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to bring India under modern, creative, and stable management in the field of agriculture and establish the country as the grain bank of the world. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Indian economy; therefore, without the development of agriculture, the overall development of India is incomplete. The present Central Government is working on the policy of ‘One Country, One Agriculture, One Idea’. Its main goal is to build a Viksit Bharat,” he said.

Minister Nath said that the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan started on May 29 and continued till June 12.

“Through this campaign, about 16,000 agricultural scientists and a team of officials from 2,170 agricultural and allied sectors across the country came with the message of bringing the benefits of modern agricultural technology to 1.5 crore farmers in 700 districts. The main objective of this campaign is to ensure food and nutrition security for 1.45 crore people, increase farmers’ income by enhancing crop productivity, and conserve natural resources. The campaign was launched with six key plans: increasing agricultural production, reducing production costs, ensuring fair pricing of produce, providing compensation to those affected by natural disasters, promoting crop diversification and food processing, and encouraging natural and organic farming,” he said.

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Minister Nath said that three expert teams were formed in each district of the state, with each team interacting with farmers in three meetings per day.

“That means an average of 108 meetings were held in each district during this campaign. A total of 956 such meetings were conducted across 8 districts of the state. We discussed various development schemes of the Central and State Governments, science-based modern farming, animal husbandry, fish farming, soil health testing, and other related topics with a target of at least 200 farmers/FPOs/FPCs/SHG members in each meeting. During this campaign, 873 interaction meetings were held in 956 GP/VCs across the state, involving a total of 1,95,263 farmers, of which 66,899 (34%) were women,” said the Minister.

“In the last 15 days, state officials and agricultural scientists have engaged with farmers across the state and recorded their valuable suggestions. After reviewing these inputs, we will draft future plans for the development of the state's agricultural system,” said the Agriculture Minister.

Minister Nath also informed that the country has already witnessed the Green Revolution, White Revolution, and Blue Revolution. Currently, work on the Yellow Revolution is underway.

“The Sweet Revolution will soon begin in the country, aiming for self-sufficiency in honey production by encouraging farmers to take up beekeeping, thus providing an additional source of income. In our state, food grains are produced on more than 2.01 lakh hectares during the Kharif season. As a result of this campaign, if the average yield per hectare increases by 500 kg through science-based farming, it will be possible to raise the state’s food grain production by 1 lakh metric tons this year. Only then will the core objective of this campaign be fulfilled,” he added.