The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the Agriculture sector and farmers are developing rapidly in the country.

On the call of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to double the farmers' income, many farmers have succeeded in doubling or more than doubling their incomes as a result of the collective efforts of all including the Central and State Governments, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

To commemorate the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an e-publication has been prepared by compiling success stories of 75,000 farmers out of lakhs of farmers whose incomes have increased. Also a State-wise brief publication on Doubling Farmers Income has also been prepared.

These were released by Agriculture Minister Shri Tomar on the occasion. The e-publication is available on the ICAR website. Shri Tomar also distributed awards to scientists and farmers on the 94th foundation day of ICAR.

Addressing the function organized at ICAR Pusa Campus, Delhi, Tomar said that today is a historic day as the ICAR had decided last year that in the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav year, the success stories of 75,000 farmers would be documented whose incomes have doubled or more than doubled.This compilation of successful farmers will prove to be a milestone in the history of the country, he said.

Tomar also released other publications of ICAR. He said that the foundation day of ICAR should be celebrated as ‘Sankalp Diwas’. On this occasion, resolutions for the whole year should be taken and they should be fulfilled by the next Foundation Day.

Tomar said that India is an agricultural country and Agriculture is such a sector in which continuous work needs to be done and solve new challenges. At present, the challenge is to promote Traditional Farming as well as move forward using technology. It is the effort of the Prime Minister that there should be a change in the life of the villagers, poor and farmers, so that infrastructure is improved in the rural areas, life should be easy and Agriculture should be converted into a profitable venture.

Towards this goal, multi-faceted efforts have been made. Funding is being done by implementing schemes to create new jobs. People are being linked with employment, employment opportunities are being created in the agriculture sector, he said.

“When an educated person picks up Agriculture as a profession, then by combining technology with qualification and experience, so many employment opportunities can be created, so that the problem of employment can be solved,” he said.

Tomar said that it has been 93 years since the setting up of the ICAR. “Since its establishment in the year 1929 till date, about 5,800 seed-varieties have been released by it, including about 2,000 of these varieties released in the eight years since 2014 till now. This is a very important achievement. These include seed varieties of horticultural, climate friendly and fortified varieties.

"Today we are facing the challenge of Climate Change, so this is the matter of biggest concern to the scientists. We have to come out with a roadmap in this direction and present the results before the country so that India’s agricultural exports improve further. In this, the role of other scientists of all KVKs and ICAR institutes is important,” he said.

Tomar said that the New Education Policy was born on the vision of the Prime Minister, now Agriculture curriculum is being included in the school education. “How agricultural education institutions should adopt the New Education Policy, this work has been done by ICAR, its fruitful results will be seen in the future,” he said.

Tomar also asked ICAR and KVK to make determined efforts in the field of agricultural productivity including increasing the production of pulses, oilseeds and cotton. Earlier, the Agriculture Minister interacted online with some farmers from different parts of the country.

In the discussion of the Agriculture Minister with the farmers of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat etc., it emerged that their incomes and standard of living is improving due to government schemes and institutional support.