|
Home--News
Modi Urges Corporates to Enter Contract Farming
Business Standard
November 17, 2003
The chief minister Narendra Modi said contract farming should be developed in the state on the lines of dairy co-operatives.
Speaking at a meeting to discuss the central government guidelines on contract farming on Saturday, Modi expressed the willingness to make the state an experimental ground for contract farming in the country.
Inaugurating a conference of foreign experts and senior officers of Union agriculture ministry convened by the state agriculture department here to discuss farm lending and land reforms policy for contract farming, he said there was a need to prepare a comprehensive package for contract farming after an in-depth study on all aspects of the issue.
He said farmers of the state were hard working, progressive, enterprising and ready to adopt latest farming techniques and they would be quick to adopt contract farming in a package form.
Referring to the central government guidelines for contract farming, he said Gujarat already has an excellent infrastructure in the co-operative sector.
He expressed confidence that what could not be achieved through nationalisation and privatisation, can be attained through contract farming.
Modi urged the agricultural experts to explore the possibility of developing contract farming on the lines of dairy farming in the co-operative sector.
He said contract farming would succeed if the farmers did not have to lose their hold on the land.
He said globalisation was more an opportunity than a challenge for the farmers. He said Indian farmers could produce crops through organic and bio-farming which fetched higher prices in the global market.
He said corporate houses could enter into contract farming around bigger towns and cities to convert solid wastes into compost manure to increase the soil's fertility as well as the productivity.
Similarly, leftovers generated from kitchens of hotels and religious places could be used for germiculture and organic farming.
Agriculture minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma said there was a need to clear misconceptions about contract farming and eliminate fears about farmers losing their hold on the land.
In Gujarat, he said, even Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) were willing to cooperate with farmers in contract farming.
The conference was attended by K M Sahani, agriculture secretary, government of India, T Haq of Agricultural Prices Commission, chief secretary P K Laheri and agriculture secretary K N Shelat.
FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. India Resource Center is making this article available in our efforts to advance the understanding of corporate accountability, human rights, labor rights, social and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
