Niti Aayog stresses doubling the farmers’ income

NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare jointly conducted third meeting of the Governing Council yesterday with States and UTs to discuss the enhancement of farmers’ income and initiate reforms in agriculture.

Addressing the meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that states need to work together for what he calls a vision to create a “New India”. It is the collective responsibility of this gathering to envision the India of 2022.

In this meeting, the main focus was on doubling income of farmers by 2022. Ramesh Chand, Member-Agriculture, NITI Aayog, elaborated on the measures which need to be implemented in agriculture sectors by the states. He spoke of the various elements of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, such as Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme, Per Drop, More and Crop Har Khet Ko Pani.

In the meeting the Vice chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr Arvind Panagariya stressed that reform will be the key for enhancing agricultural prosperity and should be the part of vision for 15 years being prepared by NITI Aayog.

Some of states have already taken steps including changes in their Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts to reduce the challenges faced by farmers and ensure remunerative prices to farmers of their produce.