Respected Param Shradheya Acharya Jee, Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Shri Subodh Unniyal Jee, Panchayat Minister Shri Arvind Pandey Jee, Cooperative Minister Shri Dhansingh Ravat Jee, Agriculture Cooperative and Social Welfare Minister Secretary Shri Sanjay Agrawal Jee, Joint Secretary Sister Alka Jee and all the brothers-sisters and ladies and gentlemen, I am glad to share my presence with all of you. Patanjali is famous not only in the country but also in the world. Param Shradheya Swami Ramdev Jee Maharaj has played an important role in making yog popular among the people. There was a time when the people were convinced to use indigenous things. An awareness programme was launched in this regard. The simple workers like us were the part of that movement. People used to ask what the indigenous products are, from where we can purchase them. There were no soap and tooth power available in that era. The movement brought no desired result. Baba Ramdev has done great revolution in indigenous apart from yog. If you ask about indigenous, 10 products are available for one thing. Acharya Balkrishna Jee is the backbone of Baba Ramdev Jee. He is devoted to his tapasya, sadhana, knowledge, labour and mission. The Patanjali has done great contribution in indigenous farming. When Acharya Jee shared this with me, then Secretary Sir and other officers and I held meeting with Acharya Jee and it was decided that he land should be taken care of. Therefore, he presented the concept of ‘doctor of land’. Now, it will be pilot project. But I have faith that it will grow in near future and it will help farmers boost their income. Respected Prime Minister has been making effort to boost agriculture, village and income of farmers and poor. We know that most of the country’s population depend on agriculture and live in villages. The villages won’t develop unless agriculture prospers. It will be impossible to realise the dream of developed India. Post- independence, the governments have been trying hard, but due to direction of effort created imbalance. There was a great challenge to check this imbalance. But you know that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Jee is a man of great commitment. He dreamt that his dream will not realise unless life of poor gets changed. India will not prosper unless the income of agriculture and farmers get doubled. Therefore, he focussed on total development and balanced development. He is also working on Make In India concept. In this financial year, over Rs 3 lakh crore was allocated to agriculture and rural development. The government made such a budgetary allocation to boost farmers who can contribute in country’s development. Work has to be done on many fronts to boost farmers’ income. There is a need of good quality of fertilizer, irrigation, deep irrigation, water, etc. There should be a facility of soil testing. The farmers won’t get desired results unless proper soil testing facility. For this, Respected Prime Minister has launched Soil Testing movement. Over 10 crore soil testing cards were distributed to the farmers. This effort should be continuous to boost farmers’ productivity. For example, if a person is suffering from malaria and the disease is not detected unless proper blood test. Similarly, soil health testing indicates that how much fertilizers should be used in the fields. Acharya Jee has made a pilot project in this direction. It will benefit us in the near future. The agriculture is facing many challenges. There was a time when it was said that farming will be done at the land filled with water. I think that the concept has changed. Only knowledgeable persons can do farming which needs knowledge and technology. The Government of India is working hard in this regard. Rs 6,000 is being transferred to eight crore farmers through DBT under PM Kisan Samman Yojana.

Farmers’ premium was Rs 13,000 crore, while they were compensated with Rs 57,000 crore under PMKISAN. Amazingly, the government has provided security cover to the farmers. Earlier, we were facing product shortage. Today, we have surplus production. Now we are facing acute crunch of storage facility. Water is the life. Untimely rain causes skyrocketing price of onion. There is need to hold discussion among wise farmers, scientists, organisation concerned over diversification of crops. Organic farming has been focussed in view of harmful effect of fertilizers. Organic farming must be encouraged. The Union Agriculture Ministry is working seriously in this regard. The Government of India is helping state governments increasing organic farming. It’s providing technical support to the farmers. The government is also trying hard to link farmers with market. The government has also made provision for zero budget farming. The farmers were convinced to return to natural farming. They have to understand this. Earlier, the farmers used to sell their produce in the mandi but they failed to sell it in other states directly. An Inam Project was started so that entire country will look like a market for the farmers. Total of 585 mandi have been linked with this project. The farmers have done trade worth Rs 91, 000 crore through E-market of this project. The ministry is working fast to connect 400-450 mandi in the near future. The farmers used to depend on train to transport their produce to markets in various states like Tamil Nadu. They failed to get fertilizers on time. But the Prime Minister decided to run ‘Kisan Rail’ in this budget. The farmers’ produce was transported on priority basis. In case of need, AC coaches will be constructed to transport fruits and flowers. The farmers can transport their produce in any part of the country in 24-48 hours. Kisan Udan Scheme was started in this budget to export organic produce in the international market. Now, the farmers of Uttarakhand can sell their produced in the foreign market through this scheme. The organic farming is widely done in the entire North East region. But due to non- availability of proper market in the region, the farmers failed to get desired revenue. The government has focussed on the logistic. The government needs to focus on soil health. Acharya Jee is also doing pilot which will certainly be successful. Facing all the challenges before the agriculture, we will get victory. 

Thanks