Crop Consultations to Boost Farmers' Yield

New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said the government will hold crop-specific consultations with stakeholders to address the problems faced by farmers as part of its objective to boost productivity and production.

To start with, the minister said a stakeholder consultation for soybean will be held on June 26 in Indore, followed by similar meets on cotton, sugarcane, pulses, and oilseeds.

Chouhan said the sowing of Kharif crops, including paddy, is going on smoothly and the total acreage is expected to be bumper with forecast of normal monsoon.

"We have decided to hold crop-specific consultations. Each crop has its own set of issues. We want to increase the yield and production," Chouhan told reporters here.

Agriculture scientists, farmers and other stakeholders will be present in consultative meetings. In case of oilseeds and pulses categories, the consultations will be organised for each varieties.

Chouhan said that similar meetings will be held for each state as well.

This is in continuation with recently concluded Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, a pan-India campaign to reach out to the farmer community.


The campaign was launched on May 29 from Puri, Odisha and concluded on June 12 at Bardoli, Gujarat.

"The campaign was very successful. We engaged directly with 1.34 crore farmers across 1.43 lakh villages in 721 districts," the minister had said last week.

As many as 60,281 programmes were conducted including in tribal, aspirational and border districts.

The campaign was a collaborative effort between the Centre and states involving 2,170 teams comprising 8,280 scientists of ICAR and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

New research, crop advisory based on soil health and climatic condition of each district and benefits of natural/organic farming were discussed.

"Many suggestions came from our farmers which are very useful. While making plans and policies we will try to keep those suggestions in mind," Chouhan had said.

Going forward, scientists will undertake research based on farmers feedback and many innovations done by progressive farmers would be popularised.

A similar campaign would be conducted during rabi season.