Inaugurating the month-long statewide mahotsav at Akodara near Himatnagar in Sabarkantha district, Mr. Modi said the annual event to apprise the farmers about the latest developments in farming, irrigation, land fertility, cropping pattern and cattle rearing at their doorsteps is being celebrated as a mahotsav or festival.
The Chief Minister dedicated the country's first-of-its-kind Animal Hostel, equipped with modern gadgets and management system, at Akodara.
He said the makeover in the agricultural sector began with water management, making nearly 13-lakh ha of barren land fit for farming. With the completion of Narmada Canal Project and Sujalam Sufalam Yojna, he hopes to raise the farmland by 20-lakh ha. Farmers are now taking three crops where they used to depend on the vagaries of the monsoon.
Mr. Modi exhorted the farmers to adopt more technology and value addition of agricultural produce to supplement their income. The developed nations earn fortunes by value addition of crops like castor, banana, cotton, tomato, potato and mango, exporting the value-added products to markets around the world. He said that MoUs for projects worth Rs.37,000-crore for agricultural value-addition were signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit. He wished that agriculture attains the status of an industry.
District Guardian Minister Jashwantsinh Bhabhor said Sabarkantha could now boast of having the country's first Animal Hostel, Kandhenu University, as it also supplies the needs of almost the entire country's cotton seeds and stands Number Three in Dairy Plant.
Shri Modi announces Rs.100 rebate on BT cotton seeds, 5-10% rebate on other seeds sold by Gujarat Seeds Corporation
Friday: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today announced a rebate of Rs.100 on each packet of BT cotton seeds and five to ten per cent rebate on seeds of some other kharif crops.
Inaugurating the annual Krishi Mahotsav at Akodara near Himatnagar in north Gujarat, Mr. Modi said the rebate would be on standard seeds sold by the Gujarat State Seeds Corporation (GSSC). He directed the authorities that farmers get the pure seeds in time and easily.
While the GSSC krishi raths reach the respective village, he said, each farmer would get maximum two packets of the seed at reduced prices.
The ten per cent rebate is on standard hybrid castor seed, and five per cent on tur, paddy, soyabean, til, urad and moong seeds.
