Blaming the previous NCP -Congress dispensation for the plight of farmers, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday advised the farmers to adopt new farming methods and vowed not to rest till a positive change is brought in their lives.
Blaming the previous NCP -Congress dispensation for the plight of farmers, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday advised the farmers to adopt new farming methods and vowed not to rest till a positive change is brought in their lives.
Inaugurating a national festival on agriculture and orange here this afternoon, Fadnavis asked, "Why has our farmer become a pleader?" He then himself replied "it was because he did not resort to change, did not adopt modern technology and did not experiment."
"If our farmer is to be affluent again, this must change. Unless the traditional farming is blended with modern technology, the lot of farmers will not improve," he said. Attacking the Congress and NCP for "exploiting" farmers during their 15-year rule, he said they never thought of their welfare and instead "looted" them.
"Now when we levied surcharge on liquor, cigarette to raise funds to meet the drought situation, they are critical of our decision. But when they were in power why didn't they see farmers' plight?" he asked.
The BJP-led Government will not rest till it makes farmers prosperous once again, he said. The bureaucracy's mindset also must change, Fadnavis said, adding, he was now out with a hunter to punish any Government employee coming in the way of protecting farmers' interest. He lamented that results of research being done at National Research Centre for Citrus, Nagpur is not reaching the orange cultivators.
"Farmers must get the benefit of research, but that is not happening," he said. The Chief Minister said Israel has set a model before the world in agriculture despite being a rain-starved country.
"This it could do because the farmers there adopted modern technology and undertook various experiments and shared the success with others," the CM said. "Our orange is a good table fruit and for its global marketing it is necessary to create an export arrangement. We have decided to send orange containers to Bahrain, Singapore, Dubai this year," he added.
The CM announced to set up a dehydration project in Warud this year and undertake steps for value addition and marketing of oranges. He also agreed to set up an orange juice processing unit with Government funding in Morshi in the district, but stated it would become viable only if it was marketed under some brand name. Fadnavis said he has asked top officials to contact big names like Pepsico to market the orange juice.
"If any global brand shows interest, we will not hesitate to bring them to our state by offering concessions," he said.
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 "Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis")
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