Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state government, in collaboration with the Union government, was coordinating with agricultural universities and providing modern technology and information to the farmers through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

He said efforts were on to bring comprehensive change in the lives of the farmers.

The chief minister on Sunday addressed a webinar on the 31st Foundation Day of Uttar Pradesh Council of Agricultural Research (UPCAR) on the theme ‘Effective strategies for agricultural sector in view of Monsoon, 2020 forecast and COVID-19’.

The chief minister said the 30 science centres had been established in the state during the last three years. He said that UPCAR was formed as a think-tank for the agricultural sector of the state with the aim of promoting research along with education. He said that when the BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh three years ago, the farmers of the state were forced to commit suicide due to neglect and the situation had changed now and the farmers were quite satisfied.

Yogi said that during the last three months, through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, the state government had  succeeded in sending Rs 2,000 every month to the accounts of 2.4 crore farmers, and this had been possible due to technology. He said that meteorological department; agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra could develop a mechanism for accurate weather forecast.

“It should be the mechanism through which such information is provided to the common man as well as farmers, so that the damage caused by weather can be prevented. We can prevent loss of life and property due to heavy rain and lightning by using technology in a better way,” Yogi said, and added, “We can keep farmers alert through the weather forecast.”

“Technology has now enabled us to connect all the officials associated with agriculture science centres, agricultural universities and the Department of Agriculture at district level. Steps should be taken towards establishing a dialogue with the farmers through smart phones,” the chief minister said.

He said that there had been a big improvement in the working of already functioning Krishi Vigyan Kendras and agricultural universities had opened doors for new agricultural graduates today through new research.

The chief minister said that if everyone worked together in a planned manner, this team work could lead to better results, and this was the need of the hour.

“During the coronavirus crisis, the government has made every effort at its level to ensure that no farmer faces any problem while breaking the chain of coronavirus infection,” he said.

“We have successfully operated 119 sugar mills during the four phases of lockdown and sugarcane crushing is almost complete in the state now. Whatever work has been done in different fields is the result of timely steps taken by the state government and farmer-friendly programmes,” Yogi asserted.

He added,  “We will continue to give priority to this work in future also because we believe that if farmer is prosperous, the country is also prosperous..

The chief minister said that the increase in food grains production in Uttar Pradesh during the last three years was the result of the efforts of farmers and the collective efforts of the state government and agricultural universities. He said that whether it is Pradhan Mantri Kisan Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Irrigation Yojana, or providing minimum support price to farmers or the benefit of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, all such works had progressed on priority basis.

He said that there was a lot of potential for the agriculture sector in the Rs 20 lakh crore package released by the Centre.

“The state government has prepared various action plans for the benefit of farmers. Today, organic products are in demand. We should focus on organic products and supply them in the market. There can be many new tasks for this. For this, we will arrange testing lab and training so that this work can be taken further. We should start efforts in this direction,” Yogi Adityanath said.