Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday expressed concern over the fact that only 26% of the farmers apply scientific approach in carrying out farming activities in UP which was otherwise bestowed with natural conditions suitable for agriculture and agricultural research.Addressing a gathering at the national workshop on ‘Vikshit Krishi, Viksit UP’, organised by UP Council for Agriculture Research (UPCAR) on its 36th foundation day, Yogi said that the productivity of agriculture can potentially be increased by three times of what exists at present. UP accounts for 11% of the total agricultural land and 20% of the total food grain produced in the country. Yogi said that improvement in productivity can be increased only through consistent efforts to boost scientific research and its robust application in the field.“We have swathes of fertile agricultural land, sufficient water resources irrigating almost 86% of the total area. Yet the productivity is low,” he said, adding that only those states and countries have progressed which focused on research and development. UP, he said, not only has the potential to feed the country but the whole world.“Agriculture, horticulture and vegetable production…we can do a lot in these areas,” the CM said, stressing on the need to step up agricultural research by factoring in agro-climatic zones. “This can play a decisive role in determining the speed of development of not only the state but the whole country,” he said. Yogi said that PM Narendra Modi has fixed a target of turning India into a developed country by 2027 having an economy of the size of USD 30 trillion. “But for this the states will have to play their roles. UP will have to become a Vikshit Pradesh. And for this we have to look for all possible opportunities to do so,” he said, affirming that the country was moving steadily ahead in achieving the target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy.Yogi said that the state govt has fixed the target of making UP a USD 1 trillion economy by 2029. He said that the state has conceptualised a detailed plan covering all key sectors including agriculture and infrastructure which would usher in development. “At the same time, we need to have short term goals before achieving the target of becoming a developed economy by 2047,” he said, exhorting agriculture universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) to focus in that direction.The CM asked the agriculture research institutes and universities to step up efforts to arrest migration of farmers from agricultural activities. At the same time, he said, more work was required to be done for improvement in seed variety to boost production.
