Need to find solutions to make Indian agriculture economically viable: Gadkari

New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) Indian agriculture needs to become economically viable as it is necessary to make the country 'Atmanirbhar', Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

Addressing an event here, Gadkari said there is a need to diversify India's agriculture towards the energy and power sector, as the country does not have enough capacity for the storage of foodgrains.

There is also a need to increase employment potential in rural and tribal India, as these areas are facing crucial economic problems.

"Indian agriculture is not very economically viable. Now, this is the time we need to find out the solution that how we are going to make our agriculture economically viable.

"Without that, we cannot make Atmanirbhar Bharat," the minister said.

In the present situation, Gadkari said the big problem is that India has a surplus of foodgrain, rice, wheat and sugar.

"And these are the problems we are facing...we need to find out how the farmers will get remunerative prices," he said.

Gadkari pointed out that by creating a good market for bio-fuels, India is going to reduce the demand for fossil fuels.

"If we want to reduce pollution, then the green fuel is very important for sustainable development," he said. PTI BKS BKS BAL BAL