Agriculture minister Chouhan dismisses claims of visiting places for election campaigning

Sehore (MP), Jun 8 (PTI) Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has dismissed claims of political motives behind his visits to several places, saying that scientists also accompany him to agricultural fields and they are not going for any election campaigning.

The government is working with the spirit of 'one nation, one agriculture, one team', he emphasised.

It is reported that Chauhan is visiting places and meeting with farmers as part of the central government's 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan', which is running from May 29 to June 12.

Chouhan said that the government is now working in a direction where scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) do not conduct research solely in laboratories; instead, they should go to the fields and conduct research by understanding the needs of farmers.

Some Congress leaders in the state have raised questions about the frequent visits of the Agriculture Minister to Madhya Pradesh in recent days.

When asked about the achievements of his one-year tenure as agriculture minister, Chouhan said, "The major impact of the work done is that this year there has been a record production of wheat, paddy, soybean, groundnut and maise, etc., which has never happened before. This is a miracle in itself." He said, "We are working on another challenge, and that is 'good seeds' — seeds that yield high production. Good seed varieties will have to be developed, like two paddy seeds have been prepared through genome editing.'' He said that the government is also working on increasing the shelf life of vegetables, like tomatoes and various perishable fruits.

The Union minister stated that discussions are underway to enact a strict law banning fake pesticides, ensuring that perpetrators receive severe punishment and that the quality of the medicines used in crops is not compromised.

Chouhan admitted that the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme needs to be strengthened further. He said that satellite-based remote sensing system will be used to eliminate errors in the assessment of damage to crops due to floods and other adverse weather conditions. PTI VMV AMJ RHL AMJ AMJ