Animal Husbandry Key to India's Economy: Chouhan

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said agriculture is the backbone of India's economy and along with animal husbandry it will have an important role as the country is poised to become the world's third-largest economy in the near future.

Batting for crop diversification, Chouhan said farming of fruits, flowers, medicinal plants, agroforestry, animal husbandry, beekeeping and fisheries need to be promoted to increase farmers' income.

After taking part in the International Gita Festival in Kurukshetra, Chouhan participated in a dialogue programme with scientists, sugarcane farmers and 'Lakhpati Didis' at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana.

Chouhan said agriculture is the backbone of India's economy and along with animal husbandry will have an important role as the country is going to become the world's third-largest economy in the near future.

He said the Prime Minister's resolve is to double the income of the farmers. For me, serving the poor and farmers is the worship of God, he said.

Chouhan said that production has to be increased and for this, it is necessary to have good seeds. Agriculture also has to be diversified, he said.

"Not only traditional farming but many types of farming like fruits, flowers, medicinal farming, agroforestry, animal husbandry, beekeeping and fisheries etc. will have to be done. “Many efforts will have to be made to increase income. Agriculture and dairy are both linked. I am proud that NDRI has done remarkable work in this area and I congratulate him for that," he said on the occasion.

Chouhan said "we have to pay attention to how we can produce more milk using new technology".

He said that former Prime Minister, late Lal Bahadur Shastri gave the slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, while ex-PM, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee added Jai Vigyan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi added Jai Anusandhan.

Research is necessary, said Chouhan, while adding "we can't move forward without the use of technology".

We have to make India a food basket and also make India the largest producer of milk. The role of the institution is important in this, he said.

Chouhan said that farmers should not worry and added "I will try my best to ensure that the farmers move forward and how our farmers are happy".

Referring to the time when he was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan said the Ladli Lakshmi scheme was brought.

Economic, political, educational empowerment of women is necessary. Madhya Pradesh was the first state to give 50 per cent reservation to women in local body elections, he said.

Meanwhile, Chouhan, during his visit to NDRI, Karnal witnessed the cloned and gene-edited dairy animals, as per an NDRI statement.

During his visit to NDRI, he also reviewed the research programmes and appreciated the progress made in animal cloning, gene editing and dissemination of quality germ plasm to dairy farmers.

Chouhan also inaugurated an exhibition wherein ICAR institutes located in Karnal displayed their innovative technologies and achievements.

During his visit, he also interacted with entrepreneurs who adopted NDRI developed technologies.

He also interacted with national awardee farmers and women-oriented self-help group members and appreciated their products.

He particularly appreciated the efforts of "Lakhpati didis" and "Drone didis" who are spearheading the social change in the rural society.

He said that dairying contributes around 4.1 per cent to national GDP and this share needs to be increased. He exhorted the NDRI scientists to increase the productivity of dairy animals by developing quality germplasm and its dissemination to farmers. Later, Union Minister also laid foundation of boys' hostel worth more than Rs. 10 crores and interacted with students.

Talking to reporters later on the sidelines, Chouhan said that ICAR-NDRI are our pride. I saw a wheat variety has been developed which is climate resistant..". If farmers income is to be increased, then we will also have to move faster in sectors like animal husbandry.

Using technology, NDRI is bringing a revolution in milk production and I congratulate them for this, he said.

Replying to a question, Chouhan said Haryana is procuring 24 crops at MSP, doing good work in crop diversification and in preventing stubble burning.