Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Tuesday that the Centre and state governments are working together to achieve the target of doubling farmers' income by 2022.
In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government set a highly ambitious goal of doubling farmers' incomes by 2022.
In September 2018, an inter-ministerial committee on 'Doubling Farmers' Income' submitted a report outlining strategies to attain this target. Following the approval of the panel's recommendations, the government established "empowered body" to review and monitor progress. Tomar stated at an event in Goa that the central government has given agriculture and related activities high priority. Agriculture makes a considerable contribution to the nation's GDP, making it all the more important to boost the agriculture sector.
"To achieve the Prime Minister's target of doubling farmers' income by 2022, the central and state governments as well as farmers across the nation, are working in unison," Tomar was cited as saying in an official statement. Even during the pandemic, the agriculture industry held up well, with farmers harvesting bumper crops. Despite the fact that tourism took a back seat during the pandemic, the farm sector continued to thrive in Goa, he noted.
Highlighting central schemes like PM-KISAN launched to strengthen small farmers, Tomar emphasized that the Centre is promoting the establishment of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) by 2027-28 with a total budgetary investment of Rs.6865 crore, and that this scheme is "successfully being implemented in Goa."
"Advanced technology and innovative approaches in the sector are luring youths to agriculture in the state," Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated at the event. He also urged people to practice integrated farming, which includes agriculture, horticulture, dairy farming, pisciculture, and floriculture.
The event was attended by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar and Quepem Municipal Council Chairperson Suchita Shirwaikar, among others.
