Rural youth should be trained to become agripreneurs: VP Dhankhar

Shimla: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday emphasised the need to empower the rural youth to become instruments of change in India's enormous but "underutilised" agricultural economy.

Interacting with students, faculty and researchers during his visit to Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Solan, he also called for giving direct subsidy to farmers and claimed it will increase their annual income by Rs 30,000.

Dhankhar said that instead of giving indirect subsidies on fertilisers, seeds and other inputs, farmers should get monetary assistance directly which will give them the choice to purchase fertilizer or opt for natural farming.

He said that the income of a farmer's family in the US is higher than that of an average household in that country because farmers receive direct government support.

Advocating for a hike in Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, he said that this amount needs to be factored along with inflationary component, and added that like Samman Nidhi, all other aids should be deposited directly into farmers' accounts which would be immensely beneficial.

Exhorting the students to become harbinger of change in their farming families, the vice president said, "Boys and girls like you should motivate their families to foray into marketing of their produce." He underscored the urgent need to bridge the gap between agricultural production and market access.

The rural youth from farming backgrounds should be "trained to become entrepreneurs and agripreneurs" and empowered to become "instruments of change" in India's enormous but "underutilized" farm economy, he added.

Dhankhar also called for the use of artificial intelligence to bring about revolutionary change in rural systems.

Speaking on the roadmap to development, he said farmers are only "annadata" (providers of food) but also "bhagya vidhata" (makers of destiny), asserting that the path to a developed India goes through the farmers' fields.

Expressing concern over the export-oriented mindset, Dhankhar said, "I find it very troubling when people say 'this is export material, this is for export'. Why? Shouldn't we eat the best, wear the best?" He proudly pointed out how Indians are now leading major global institutions and lauded the rising participation of women in leadership roles.

Dhankhar also planted a sapling in memory of his mother, Kesari Devi, on the university campus and visited the exhibition showcasing the work of various Farmer Producer Organisations and agri-startups.

The vice president was given a warm send-off at Annandale helipad where Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, among others, were present.