THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture should not be allowed to fall into the hands of corporates that are out to make a profit, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday.
When profit alone becomes the goal, the equilibrium of the environment and measures taken to protect it will be destroyed, Vijayan said, inaugurating the valedictory of VAIGA-2016, the five-day international workshop on agro-processing and value addition organised by the Agriculture Department.
Central policies favour agri corporates whose only aim is profit. No policies are being framed at the national level for the scientific advancement of the farm sector, he said. Increasing production costs, low prices for produce and emergence of monopolies combined with the vagaries of the monsoon are driving farmers away from agriculture, the Chief Minister said.
Stressing that value addition would help farmers get better prices for their produce, Vijayan promised measures to ensure that new technologies and techniques developed by institutions like the Kerala Agricultural University reach the farmers. “Now they are not reaching the farmers. They are confined to research institutions,” he said. The Industries Department is ready to offer all support to agri entrepreneurs, Industries Minister A C Moideen said. The Agriculture Department aims at encouraging farmers to stick to their profession by achieving at least 20 to 30 per cent value addition in farm produce, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said.
K Muraleedharan MLA, KAU vice chancellor P Rajendran, NABARD chief general manager V R Raveendranath, ward councillor Palayam Rajan, Planning Board’s agriculture division head P Rajasekharan spoke.