THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: when the coronavirus has locked down our homes, offices, malls, theatres, parks, bus stands, railway stations, schools, colleges and clubs, a large number of people have turned to agriculture with a renewed passion as a way to reduce their stress and for exploring means to make a living. Now it’s up to the state government to motivate them by giving them enough support.
New Agriculture Minister P Prasad spoke to The New Indian Express about his vision on the changes he would like to introduce in the farm sector of the state.
Q. Do you think social distancing has brought more people to agriculture?
A. Certainly. My request to the people is to maintain social distancing in daily life, but come close to agriculture and soil as it can nourish their daily life in many ways.
Q. What are the immediate priorities of the new state government?
A. One main agenda of the state government is to take forward the projects and schemes announced in the last term to yield its full results. Another agenda of the agriculture department is to attract more youth and women to the field of agriculture so that the state can reduce its dependence on other states for its daily need of vegetables and other farm produce.
Q. Have you charted any road map for luring these sections of people to the farm?
A. Already, there is a renewed interest among people to experiment with farming. We have to keep them motivated by providing market and technological support. The state government aims to enhance the income of farmers by around 50 per cent by making market interventions and adopting sustainable farm practices. For instance, the farming community is yet to tap the full potential of online agri trade despite our e-literacy is way ahead of other states. If the online delivery boys can bring your favourite food from the hotel you wish, the same can be implemented in vegetable and other farm produce. The customer can be provided with the vegetables and farm produce in his nearest area at a reasonable rate, a win-win situation for both the farmer and customer. These are some of the initial thoughts and we would come up with a clear project to boost the online agri trade in the state, which would end the exploitation by middlemen who often make more money than the farmers.
Q. The state has made a leap in paddy cultivation in the last five years. Do you have any plans to increase the production further?
A. At present, the majority of farmers are forced to cultivate only one crop in a season due to the peculiarities of geographic terrains. Our next task is to make them capable of cultivating a second crop (Irippu krishi) in one season, which is possible if scientific intervention is made.
Further, promoting crops based on each geographical zone in the state would be the next thrust area. It will take some time but we are all committed and will make this possible.