NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said efforts are being made to introduce agriculture subject at middle school level in villages, adding that necessary reforms have been made in this regard in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Saying that agriculture has a major role to contribute to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign, Modi said self-reliance in agriculture targets at making farmers both producer and entrepreneur.
Interacting with students after inaugurating the college and administration buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi through video conferencing, the PM said teaching agriculture at the middle school levels in villages would help develop agriculture-related understanding and enable the spread of information about agriculture, modern farming techniques and marketing to promote agro-entrepreneurship in the country.
Laying stress on the role of agriculture in the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign, Modi said several historic agricultural reforms have been taken to empower the farmers — that include allowing them to sell their produce anywhere in the country at better prices. “A special dedicated fund of `1 lakh crore has been set up for providing better facilities and promoting industries in a cluster-based approach,” said Modi. Modi also stressed that efforts are continuing to connect farming with modern technology.
“Research institutions and agricultural universities have a vital role to play. Now, there are three central agricultural universities compared to just one six years ago. Besides this, three more National Institutions, IARI Jharkhand, IARI Assam and Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Integrated Farming in Motihari, Bihar, are also being established,” said the PM, adding that these institutes will give new opportunities to the students.