|
A high-level meeting related to the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan, at his office located at 12, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi.
During the meeting, the Union Minister conducted a detailed review of the functioning and activities of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. On the occasion, ICAR Director General and Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Dr ML Jat, briefed the Union Minister in detail about the various programmes and activities being carried out under ICAR across the country. He also informed the Union Minister about the future roadmap and explained how the Council is working to ensure maximum benefit for Indian agriculture and farming communities across the country. During the meeting, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan instructed officials that agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for a large section of the country's population and provides a strong foundation to the Indian economy. He said that all efforts and energies should be directed towards making Indian agriculture more productive, low-cost and a profitable profession. The Union Minister laid special emphasis on the wide-scale promotion and expansion of integrated farming and said that farmer brothers and sisters should be encouraged to adopt it in a practical manner. He stated that this would help increase farmers' incomes and strengthen sustainable farming practices. Chouhan said that scientific agriculture is the need of the hour. He noted that the impact of climate change has now become clearly visible not only in India but across the world. Keeping these circumstances in mind, he directed officials to work rapidly, with the consent of states, towards preparing state-wise agricultural roadmaps in accordance with the agro-climatic conditions of each state. According to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Officials informed the Union Agriculture Minister that work in this direction is already underway following requests from states such as Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Rajasthan, and that independent agricultural roadmaps for these states would be prepared soon. Expressing satisfaction over ICAR's action plan, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed officials to work with greater energy and enthusiasm so that the targets could be achieved ahead of schedule. Senior officials of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research were also present at the meeting. (ANI)
|
