The Regional Conference on doubling of farmers’ income by 2022 organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Rajasthan Regional Office in association with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India and the Govt of Rajasthan was held at Jaipur for the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
Addressing the conference, Agriculture Minister of Rajasthan Prabhu Lal Saini congratulated NABARD for bringing all the stakeholders under single umbrella by organizing the regional conference for a noble initiative of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.
”Diversification of agriculture activities with adoption of three prolonged strategy in the form of having 1/3rd as Traditional Crops, 1/3rd as Horticulture Crops and rest 1/3rd as Allied Activities such as Animal Husbandry, Poultry, Piggery, Fisheries, etc., can result even in tripling instead of doubling of the farmers’ income by 2022 provided all active support from the concerned stakeholders with a good strategy, well-designed programmes, adequate resources and good governance in implementation” the minister claimed.
Welcoming the participants, Sarita Arora, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Rajasthan Regional Office flagged the importance of the conference and highlighted the need for shifting our strategies from farm centric to farmer’s centric approach thus changing the earlier emphasis on agricultural output. She also highlighted the need for focusing on the allied sectors and non-farm sectors in an integrated manner.
Special Guest on the occasion Neeraja Adidam, Joint Secretary (RKVY), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India listed out the priorities of the Govt. of India for this ambitious objective of doubling of farmers’ income by 2022. She said farmers should be seen as private entrepreneurs and the different appropriate business models, therefore, need to be developed for all categories of farmers with a special focus on small and marginal farmers.
A large number of distinguished experts participated in panel discussions held on the occasion. Several top officials representing the govt of India and the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and MP were also participants in the conference.