Yogi welcomes farmers’ bills ... says it will bring change in farm sector

| | Lucknow
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Yogi welcomes farmers’ bills ... says it will bring change in farm sector

Monday, 21 September 2020 | PNS | Lucknow

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has welcomed the two farmers-friendly bills — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 —passed by Parliament and said they would bring about wide-ranging changes in agriculture sector.

Yogi said these bills reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to ensure welfare of the farmers .

“I thank the prime minister for this public welfare endeavour. The provisions of these bills will herald a new era in the agriculture sector,” he said.

Describing it as a unique and historic step of the prime minister, the chief minister said that both the bills favoured farmers and the agriculture sector as a whole. He said they would help in increasing the incomes of farmers' manifold.

“The provisions of these bills will free the farmers from unnecessary legislation, bring fundamental changes in the agriculture sector, give impetus to investment in the farm sector and increase employment. It will favourably affect the agricultural economy which in turn will strengthen the economy of the country,” Yogi said.

The chief minister said that the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 would promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce. “This will create an ecosystem where the farmers and traders can enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce,” he said.

Echoing the commitment of the prime minister to double the income of farmers, the chief minister said that this bill was entirely in the favour of the farmer community. “It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who brought about a historical and unprecedented increase in minimum support price (MSP) and ensured the right price to farmers of their produce in a speedy and transparent manner,” he added.

Hitting out at the opposition parties, Yogi said while the Central and the state governments were busy fulfilling their commitment to ensuring fair price to farmers for their produce, certain political parties were showing their mala fide intentions by making misleading statements. He appealed to farmers to not be misled by these political entities which were the same that considered farmers only as a vote bank for the last six-seven decades without ever caring for their welfare.

“The state government is also striving hard to double the income of the farmers and was following the guidance of the prime minister to achieve this. The state government has taken several policy decisions for agriculture and farmers’ welfare,” he said.

Elaborating on the initiatives of the UP government, he said that during lockdown, the state government exempted 45 items of fruits and vegetables from mandi tax fee which benefited the farmers directly. “Now the farmers are free to sell their fruits and vegetables anywhere in the state,” he said.

The chief minister said that the reforms brought by the Central government would favourably impact the farmers. “The farmers will no longer be bound to sell their produce in the Mandi premises. From now onwards, they may sell their produce from warehouse, cold storage or food processing units instead of notified mandis only. Not only this, they can sell the produce to traders/food processing units at farm gates at a right price. This will save transportation and freight charges as well,” he said.

Yogi said that the promotion of contract farming would help the farmers reach an agreement with the food processing units/exporters on individual or organised basis. “This will enable them to reduce fertiliser, seed and other inputs’ costs and use modern techniques to maximise their products and get a better market. This will also help the farmer work according to national-international demands,” he said.

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