NewzVille Desk
“Look around, there is no other country like Bharat which can demonstrate inclusivity and freedom of expression, said Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar while addressing the gathering at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore today.
He was addressing on the theme “Fostering Agri-Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Viksit Bharat.”
R.N. Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu, N. Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, Minister for Human Resources Management, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, V. Dakshinamoorthy, Agricultural Production Commissioner and Secretary to Government, Dr. M. Raveendran, Director of Research, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Dr. R. Thamizh Vendan, Registrar and Acting Vice Chancellor Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
VP Dhankhar said, “Bharat is the world’s oldest civilisation, a peace-loving nation where inclusivity and freedom of expression and thought are our legacy.”
Keeping his focus to the agriculture sector, the Vice-President underscored that “we must move from food security to farmer prosperity.” The farmer, he said, has to be prosperous, and this evolution must originate from institutions like Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
He further elaborated that farmers must step out of the farmland and involve themselves in marketing their produce. “Farmers should not just be a producer and forget about it. That would mean they will painstakingly, tirelessly raise a produce and will sell it at a time when it is right for the market, without holding it. It doesn’t give much financially,” he noted.
He called for empowering the farmers by generating awareness and by informing them that the government cooperative system is very robust.
The Vice-President also emphasized that the farm produce market is gigantic, and when value is added to the farm produce, industry will thrive.
Dhankhar underlined that it is the duty of every citizen to bear this in mind, particularly at a time when the nation is witnessing unstoppable exponential economic rise, extraordinary growth in infrastructure, technological penetration reaching to the last mile, and the international repute of the nation and its leader, the Prime Minister, is at the highest ever, “We as citizens, therefore, have a great role to contribute to sustain this rise of the nation,” he asserted.
Highlighting the role of research and technology in agriculture, he stressed that the gap between lab and land must not merely be bridged—it must be a seamless connect. “Lab and land must be together and for this, over 730 Krishi Vigyan Kendras must be vibrant centres of interaction with farmers, to educate the farmers,” he said.
He also called for connecting Krishi Vigyan Kendras and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which in itself has over 150 institutions focusing on every aspect of Agronomy.
