March 2, 2021
During a webinar on budget provisions for the farm sector, PM Modi said that there is a need to bring a food processing revolution in the country through public-private partnership.
Modi said that with the country’s foodgrains production increasing, there is a need for post-harvest revolution or food processing revolution, and value additions. It would have been better if food processing was given attention 2-3 decades earlier; hence this sector needs to be developed at a faster pace.
For the food processing revolution, participation of farmers as well as public-private partnerships need to be increased. The Prime Minister said that the public sector has mainly contributed towards R&D in the agriculture sector, and now the time has come to increase the private sector’s participation in it.
He highlighted the various initiatives taken by the government in the Budget for the next fiscal, including increasing the target of agriculture credit to Rs. 16.5 lakh crore from Rs. 15 lakh crore in the current financial year.
He stressed on effective implementation of the Budget provisions and said that the government has taken various decisions for the benefit of Rs.12 crore small and marginal farmers; who will become the driving force of the rural economy.
It is high time that farmers should be given alternatives so that they do not remain limited to growing wheat and paddy. The country’s agriculture sector must be expanded to the global processed food market, he added.
Modi stressed increasing the number of agro-industries cluster along with the villages so that the rural population can get employment related to farming. He also talked about the need to encourage agri startups, saying they have performed well during the pandemic period.