Timely aid, better prices for farmers vital for India’s self-sufficiency: Vice President

HYDERABAD: Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu, on Sunday, said that offering better prices for produce, timely and affordable credit to farmers and support to allied sectors, like horticulture, aquaculture, dairy farming, fisheries and pisciculture, were crucial in sustaining agriculture in the country.

Speaking at the launch of the book, ‘Palleku Pattabhishekam’, written by former MP Yalamanchili Shivaji, at Dr Marri Chenna Reddy Human Resource Development Institute in Hyderabad on Sunday, the VP observed that timely provision of assistance to farmers could not only help India achieve self-sufficiency, but also enable the country to supply food globally. 

Praising the nation’s farmers for increased food grain production despite the hardships of the pandemic, Venkaiah Naidu said that there was a need to increase storage capacity, encourage food processing units and remove restrictions on crop transportation, to make agriculture more remunerative.

He suggested the establishment of strong lab-farm links and urged scientists to develop climate change-resistant seed varieties. The VP also stressed the need to cut down input costs by following natural farming methods, as there was an increasing demand for organic products.