Farmers’ issues: Vice-President expresses hope for ‘early solution’

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday expressed hope that a reasonable solution will be found on the issues raised by the agitating farmers since both the government and the farmers are willing to talk.

Speaking at the awards ceremony jointly organised by Rythu Nestham and Muppavarapu Foundation at the Swarna Bharat Trust at Muchintal in Hyderabad, Vice-President referred to media reports on the demands of the agitating farmers and added that he saw possibility of a certain meeting ground.

The Vice-President pointed out that restriction-free marketing of farm produce has been a long-standing demand which he himself had articulated.‘One country and one food zone’ has been the demand for a long time.

Naidu lauded the farmers for rendering a great service to the nation during the pandemic by producing record food grains. Naidu said that both the Centre and States should work as ‘Team India’ in addressing the needs of the farmers.

“Apart from ensuring remunerative prices, farmers should be provided with timely and affordable credit. There was also a need to increase the cold storage facilities and the godowns at all levels. As a matter-of-fact, every tehsil must have a cold storage facility,” he added.

FAO report

Referring to a FAO report which cautioned about the food crisis, Venkaiah Naidu remarked that if we support our farmers, India will not only be food secure, but can also be able to feed the world.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government is progressing towards doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 through schemes such as the Soil Health Card Scheme, the Prime Minister’s Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme and the Electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM),” the Vice-President added.

Awards distributed

Prof Sarvareddy Venkureddy was awarded the Life Achievement Award and Brigadier Pogula Ganesha was awarded the Krishi Ratna by the Vice-President. Awards were presented to farmers, extension officers, scientists, agricultural journalists and producers of short films on agriculture.

Naidu appreciated the founder of Rythu Nestham, Padma Shri awardee Yadlapalli Venkateswara Rao for supporting the farming community through its monthly agricultural magazines.

He complimented Harshavardhan, the founder of the Muppavarapu Foundation, for coming forward to support the winners of this year’s short film competitions.