Marketing platform to come up for apple growers in Himachal Pradesh soon

Solan,October 6

The government is working towards creating a marketing platform for apple growers, said Virender Kanwar, Agriculture Minister, at the CII Northern Region Agri Inputs Summit organised through a virtual platform today.

The theme, ‘Transforming Agriculture for Global Challenges’, was discussed by over 300 delegates from the agri inputs industry.

Kanwar emphasised that the state was encouraging apple growers to adopt natural farming as this would put an end to the malicious campaign against apples grown in Himachal being poisonous.

Kanwar said, “The government is committed to rapid economic uplift of the farming community through planned agriculture development. We endeavour to achieve sustainable agriculture through improvement in productivity and quality.”

He requested the industry to organise awareness campaigns among farmers about the judicious use of quality fertilisers and pesticides.

Dr SK Malhotra, Agriculture Commissioner, said, “An efficient input delivery system is the base for success in agriculture. “The Centre is open to providing support on the regulatory front to the industry to ensure the PM’s vision of Atamnirbhar Bharat and doubling farmers’ income.”

While stressing farmer education, Mayank Singhal, Chairman, CII NR Committee on Agriculture, Food Processing and Dairy, said, “It is imperative to educate farmers about the justified use of plant protection chemicals, how to increase crop yield and spread awareness of the difference between genuine and spurious pesticides.”

Singhal emphasised that the new Pesticide Management Bill should incentivise new products by research and development based agro chemical companies as against fly-by-night operators.

Ramit Bharti Mittal, Co-Chairman, CII Regional Committee on Agriculture, Food Processing and Dairy, emphasised that the time had come for agri inputs companies to reinvent their perspectives by understanding farmers better. Srinivasa Kumar Karavadi, head of market development — Crop Science Division — India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Bayer Crop Science Ltd, highlighted the need to adopt a holistic view on sustainable agriculture, focusing on environmental, social and economic progress. — TNS