Gangtok, October 6 (IPR): Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Government of India, Shri Kailash Choudhary, interacted with farmers here at ICAR centres of Pakyong and Tadong today. The Union Minister interacted with farmers from the local region.
The programme also included launch of mobile app named Orchid-MAN and Orchid Pest Management developed by NRCO. During the programme, two progessive farmers, Shri Phillip Raj Subba and Shri Jiwan Subba were felicitated for their contributions to farming sector.
Union Minister, Shri Kailash Choudhary, in his speech stressed on the importance of co-ordination of Government and farmers to make farmers self-reliant. He pointed out that the budget in the agricultural sector has been raised through aggressive schemes directed towards farmers through the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Further, he talked about benefits of FPO which brings profits to farmer without a middle man which will help in self-reliant farmers eventually leading to self-reliant India.
Thereafter, Minister Shri Choudhary visited the ICAR facility in Tadong where he visited Hatchery Unit, Dairy Unit and Pig Research Farm. He also distributed farm animals to beneficiaries through various schemes- PSP (Poultry Seed Project), TSP (Tribal Sub-Plan) and DBT (Department of Bio-Technology) Project NPOF (National Project Organic Farming).
Agriculture Minister, Shri Lok Nath Sharma, talked about various schemes introduced by the Government to help raise the income of the farmers through agriculture, farming, fisheries and dairy. He said that these are steps to make farming and dairy sectors in Sikkim self-reliant by 2022. To reach this feat, we need to have proper co-ordination between national institutes and Government of Sikkim, he added.
MP, Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba, said that today is a significant day for Sikkim and extended a warm welcome to Union Minister Shri Choudhary. He expressed privilege on being part of the programme and knowing more about activities of NRCO in the State. This institute is a boon for farmers as only 12 % of land is arable in the State and the need of the hour is implementation of scientific methods to multiply agricultural production, he added.
The programme also had the presence of MLA, Rhenock, Shri Bishnu Kumar Sharma, MLA, Gangtok, Shri Y.T. Lepcha, MP, Lok Sabha, Shri Indra Hang Subba, Deputy Director General, Horticulture Science-NRC, Shri A.K. Singh, Director, ICAR-NRCO, Dr. Rampal, and Government officials of line departments and farmers.
