Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asserted that a concrete plan for development of UP’s agricultural sector be prepared, implemented and monitored continuously.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Road Map for Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Uttar Pradesh’ organized at Yojna Bhawan, Adityanath insisted that progress of the country was linked to progress of UP, and therefore, adequate attention be given to the agricultural sector which provided maximum employment in the state. “With the combined efforts of agricultural scientists, entrepreneurs and progressive farmers, the agricultural prospects of the state can be increased three times in the next five years,” he claimed.
Maintaining that there was immense potential for development of agriculture in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi said that the state was blessed with “world’s most fertile land” and had sufficient water resources. He said that UP had 11 to 12% of the country’s total cultivable land and produces about 20% of the country’s total food grain. “This fact shows the potential of the agriculture sector of the state,” he said. There are nine climatic zones, 89 Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and five agricultural universities in the state.
The CM said that the importance of agriculture was seen during the pandemic. He pointed out that all sectors of the economy were affected, with the construction sector recording a negative growth of 50%. “It was only agriculture where a positive growth of 3.5% was seen,” the CM said, underscoring the need of decentralizing technology.
He said that the agricultural universities should become centres of modern agricultural research and Krishi Vigyan Kendras should be linked to them. The findings of the seminar should be implemented through adequate number of Krishi Vigyan Kendras available in the nine climatic zones of the state. Institutions and scientists related to agricultural technology should connect with the general public, so that the common farmer can get benefitted by modern technology, he said.
Emphasizing on the need of adopting modern technology in agriculture, Yogi said that effective efforts should be made to make farmers aware about it. He said that the common farmer in the state usually has one and a half to two acres of cultivable land.
