Modi woos farmers at Punjab rally

Kotkapura: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday listed out the initiatives taken by his government to benefit farmers, saying his dream was to double their income by the year 2022.

He mentioned the NDA government’s schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana and crop insurance plan in this regard.

Under Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, each field would get water, he told a rally here in the poll-bound state, adding that his government had launched programmes under which lakhs of hectares of land would get water.

Modi said Punjab’s canal river water system had now become old, with water not reaching the tail-end. Asking farmers to efficiently utilise water, he said ‘per drop, more crop’ should be the way forward.

“If Punjab also adopts micro-irrigation, then it can save water, labour and can get more crop which will help in resolving the problems of farmers,” he said.

He stressed upon setting up ethanol plants which would help increase the income of farmers. He said his government’s priority is value addition, food processing and organic farming.

“Organic farming produce can yield remunerative returns.

Sikkim is an organic state and Punjab can also be made an organic state by setting up organic certified lab,” he said.

Talking about the benefits of the Fasal Bima Yojana, Modi said farmers will get compensation in case their produce is damaged due to the vagaries of weather.

“SAD-BJP government is framing polices for the benefit of farmers,” he said, while urging farmers to take up dairy farming, animal husbandry, fisheries and poultry as alternative source of income.

“We are finding out scientific ways to boost milk output from buffaloes and cows,” he said.

He also urged farmers to go for bee-keeping to generate income from selling honey, saying that there was great demand for the product in overseas markets.

Modi said a common market system had been launched whereby farmers could sell their crop wherever they are fetching good rates through mobile phone.

He said his government was looking to modernise farming by brining in new technology to boost output and create more employment opportunities.

Concluding his address in chaste Punjabi, Modi asked the people to come out in large numbers on February 4 and vote in favour of the SAD-BJP alliance by pressing the button of ‘takri’ (scales symbol of SAD) and ‘lotus’ (symbol of BJP).