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Industry should engage with government to reduce use of fertilizers & pesticides: Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ministry

Jun 23, 2022

Need to focus more on organic pesticides; Industry should work with the aim of protecting environment & being self-reliant: Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers

NEW DELHI, 23 June 2022: Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India today said that the private sector should come forward and support the government in reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agriculture sector.

Addressing the '11th Agrochemicals Conference 2022 -Policy Landscape for a Flourishing Agrochemicals Industry', organized by FICCI, with the support of Department of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India, Mr Tomar while speaking virtually, added that India is agriculture oriented, and agriculture has a huge contribution in country's economy. "Profit is very important for the farmers in the agriculture sector. Increase in production is also necessary. It is imperative to increase the profits in the field of agriculture and post-harvest losses to the farmers should be minimal for which the government is working on several schemes," he added.

Mr Tomar also stated that the government is promoting the use of newer technology to be adopted by the farmers to produce expensive crops. "Work is also being done to ensure uniformity in production of crops along with ensuring quality in the production", he added.

The Minister also emphasized that today, horticulture should be promoted so that India can become self-reliant in every respect. "Our country is in a very good position from the point of view of food grains. To compete at the global level, we have to look towards developed countries and move ahead with them," he said.

Mr Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers and New & Renewable Energy, Govt of India stated that the government aims to move forward while keeping in mind the benefits for farmers. "With rising population, it is important to focus on food security along with ensuring farmers produce at lower cost and safeguarding the environment." He further added that the government is farmers and business friendly and works to remove barriers by amending policy and reforms as and when needed. "It is not only the commitment but conviction of the government to work towards doubling farmers income. It is our responsibility to adopt low-cost agrochemicals along with innovations to improve the agriculture sector. We need to also focus on organic fertilizers," he stated.

Mr Khuba also urged the industry to focus on organic pesticides as this will take time to adopt to mitigate the side effects of pesticides currently used. "We must also promote manufacturing these organic pesticides in India as well", he added.

Mr Vijay Sampla, Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Govt of India said that there is a need for the research and development to be communicated to the small and marginal farmers in their language. He also emphasized on the need to create more awareness on the use of pesticides to benefit the agriculture sector.

Mr RG Agarwal, Chairman, FICCI Crop Protection Committee & Chairman, Dhanuka Group said, "We urge the government to reduce GST rates on pesticides and bring it at 5 per cent like fertilizers so as to benefit small and marginal farmers as well. The government should also provide PLI to pesticides industry to develop the domestic industry as an international manufacturing hub."

FICCI-PwC Knowledge paper 'Policy Landscape for a Flourishing Agrochemicals Industry', was released during the event.

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