Promote entrepreneurship in agro sector: Gadkari

Those who were present during the inaugural function included, among others, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Mohan Yadav, organising secretary of Agrovision Ravi Boratkar, chairman of Agrovision advisory committee Dr C D Mayee, vice-chancellor of Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dr Sharad Gadakh, vice-chancellor of Maharashtra Animal Sciences and Fisheries University, Dr Nitin Patil, chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Minesh Shah, group president (corporate relations and appliance) Tafe Tractors, T R Kesvan and CEO (Farm Division) of Mahindra Tractors Vikram Wagh.

Stressing the importance of technology to make farmers prosperous, he said technology can help bring down cost of production and enhance production and productivity. Technology in recent years has undergone a sea change , he stated and exhorted farmers to adopt modern techniques like embryo transfer to increase milk production on their farms. Similarly conservation of water is also an important concept to make farmers prosperous. Through water conservation techniques, record production of sugarcane has been taken in Vidarbha, he stated. He also urged farmers to purchase grafts for cultivation of citrus crops from certified nurseries.

Chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Mohan Yadav said a small nation like Israel has made tremendous progress in all spheres including agriculture and defence due to technology. Economy based only on agriculture can only increase income of every household, he asserted. For this purpose, every sector in agriculture must be promoted he added and laid emphasis on sharing of knowledge between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra for promoting growth in agricultural sector. Praising Agrovision, he said the expo has not only given good products and technology, but also market to the farmers.

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Smart villages can transform India.

Some years down the line, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur is poised to become an export hub. Currently prawns from Gondia district are exported to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore. In future, the number of exportable products from Nagpur will go up. Currently, carpets are made in Dhapewada. Not only this, Banarasi Sarees and Maharashtria Paithani sarees are also manufactured. Hence agricultural growth rate and smart villages can transform India, Gadkari said.