Come up with new and innovative solutions to challenges faced by farmers: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu tells scientists

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday called upon scientists and researchers to come up with new innovations and ideas to find solutions to the challenges faced by Indian farmers.

He said there has to be a meeting of minds between scientists, researchers, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and farmers, who are the main stakeholders, to adopt best practices and make agriculture remunerative. Naidu was speaking after inaugurating the secondedition of 'Exhibition and Conference on Agri-Technology and Innovation' atthe Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University here.

Observing that a farmer is the best teacher on agriculture, he said that miracles can be created if farmers' knowledge relating to the field and the research of the scientist are brought together.

The Vice President suggested the students studying agriculture spend half their time in classrooms and the rest with farmers to gain first hand practical knowledge and acquaint themselves with the problems of the farmers.

Naidu also called on agriculture universities to focus on developing new varieties, including pest resistant and climate smart variants, apart from enhancing the productivity levels.

Calling for collective efforts to achieve self- sufficiency in food production, he said a country like India should not depend on imported food security. Stating that freebies and loan waivers were not the solution, Naidu said that they only provide temporary relief.

What was needed were the long-term and holistic measures that make agriculture viable and profitable, an official release quoted him as saying. Listing some such long term measures, he suggested quality power supply, development of rural infrastructure, including godowns, cold storage facilities and refrigerator vans, apart from ensuring quality inputs and timely and adequate credit to the farmers.

Calling for diversification of agriculture, the Vice President said that farmers should be encouraged to grow new crops in addition to traditional crops. He also stressed the need for farmers to take up ancillary activities such as poultry, dairy, horticulture and aquaculture to supplement their income.

Expressing concern over fast depleting water resources, Naidu called for preservation and protection of traditional water bodies. He appreciated the work done by the Telangana government in this regard. The Vice-President said organic farming is the need of the hour to mitigate farm crisis and climate change issues and called for more technological tools to assist organic farmers.

At another event organised by Swarna Bharat Trust near here, Naidu felicitated three Padma Awardees from Telangana - ace badminton player P V Sindhu, innovative farmer Chintala Venkat Reddy and well known Sanskrit and Telugu poet Vijayasarathi Sribhashyam.

Sindhu is a recipient of Padma Bhushan, while the other two were recently awarded the Padma Shri by the government, an official release said. Naidu, who also inaugurated a medical camp, expressed concern over the rising incidences of Non Communicable Diseases in the country and urged doctors and the media to create awareness among the people, particularly the youngsters on the need to take preventive measures.

He pointed out that a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food habits were mainly responsible for NCDs and urged the youth to shun eating junk food and take up physical activity on a daily basis to remain fit. Observing that programmes like Fit India, Yoga and Swachh Bharat Mission were meant to ensure good health and hygiene for all, Naidu asked the youth to adopt these programmes and turn them into people's movements.

The Vice President stressed the need to live in harmony with nature and focus on water conservation efforts. Naidu also urged the youth not to support those indulging in violence and to develop a positive and constructive attitude in life.