Government laid maximum thrust on agriculture & allied sector: Minister Atul Bora

 'Farmers of East Bengal-origin are laborious'

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Agriculture Minister Atul Bora told the Assembly that the government laid maximum thrust on the agriculture and allied sector that 'contributes much to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product)'. He said that the distribution of high-yielding seeds, modern agriculture appliances, fertilizers etc., to the farmers was improving.

Minister Bora said this in his reply to the cut motion on grants when the opposition members pointed out some 'lacunae' in the Agriculture sector.

The opposition members said that the current agriculture production in the state had no contribution from the department officials. They said that the state agricultural output was the outcome of the efforts of the farmers. The opposition members also alleged that the state farmers lost interest in farming for not getting remunerative prices for their produces. It led to the shrinkage of arable land in the state. Middlemen in the market make profits at the cost of the farmers. And the consumers have to feel the pinch, they said.

In his reply, Minister Bora said, "The farmers of the state did not get the benefits of the PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) as they could not pay their premia. The State Government has released Rs 226 crore for farmers' share under the scheme. It has benefited the farmers to a large extent.

"Hard work is the prerequisite for farming. Full-scale farming goes on round the year in lower Assam. It is because the farmers of East Bengal origin are laborious. They work hard. On the contrary, most of the lands in Upper Assam lie abandoned after one season of cultivation due to a lack of hard-working labourers."

BJP MLA Padma Hazarika said, "We need to adopt the cooperative system if we are to bring about an agricultural revolution in the state. A few people have encroached upon hundreds of bighas of land and given them to other farmers for sharecropping. Without doing any hard work, they take the benefits of the fertile arable lands in the state. The government should free such lands from encroachers, regardless of protests from a section of people.

"A section of agriculture officers shies away from going to the fields. The department needs to be tough on such officers."

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