Key Points

VP Dhankar was addressing the students and faculty of the Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Himachal's Solan, where he highlighted how the agriculture sector grown over the years, the need to focus on rural systems for food distribution, and urged students to consider marketing agricultural produce from their own families too.

During his address at the university, he said that the best produce and products should be given to Indians instead of just being for exporting.

"I get very upset when people say - "This is for export." Why? We have to eat the best, we have to wear the best. We are already exporting our best minds! There was a time when no Indians were visible in Silicon Valley. Today, Indians are not only visible in the big institutions of the world, Indians are also controlling them," he said during his speech here.

Dhankar also requested the Indian council of Agricultural Research to consider increasing the benefit amount given under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.

"The money that farmers receive every year under the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme should increase over time. In economic terms, this amount needs to be factored along with the inflationary component. The government helps farmers a lot through fertilizers and does so in lakhs and crores. If the indirect fiscal assistance that the farm sector is getting is directly given to the farmer families, then Rs 30,000 annually would be added to the Rs 6,000 being received under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi," he said.

Advocating for paying attention to the rural system he said that there is a need to build up food processing, adding, "Vegetables come to the village from the city, fruits come from the city - how can we tolerate this in our country that if there is excess of tomatoes, they are thrown on the streets? We have to decide value addition at the farmland -- food processing is the way forward. If food cannot be processed completely, then at least do primary food processing and send it to the main market."

Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, was established on December 1, 1985. The object of the institution is to promote education, research and extension education in the fields of Horticulture, Forestry and allied disciplines.

- ANI