By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 5 Aug: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today flagged off the first consignment of mango, honey and Rajma produced in Uttarakhand from his residence through APEDA for export to the international market. On this occasion, 1.5 tonnes of mango, 28 tonnes of rajma and 80 tonnes of honey were exported to the international market.
On this occasion, Dhami observed that the state’s products being sent for the international market with the help of APEDA is a commendable initiative. He expressed the hope that, in the coming time, there would be a qualitative increase in international marketing of local products of Uttarakhand. Continuous efforts are being made by the government in this direction to get good marketing for the local products. Special attention is being paid to branding, packaging and marketing of the products. He said that more efforts are needed to give maximum promotion to the state’s local products.
The CM said that in order to increase the livelihood of the farmers in the state and to make all the necessary arrangements more effective, an agriculture calendar had also been prepared. In order to increase the economy of the small farmers of Uttarakhand, many other efforts were also being made to establish clusters for each product through the Cooperatives, Agriculture and Horticulture departments. The Chief Minister reminded that, before the budget, a dialogue was held with the experts of the agriculture sector.
The Chief Minister said that all efforts are being made by the State Government to fulfil the resolution taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers. The schemes related to agricultural welfare of the Central and State Governments are being taken to the persons standing last in the queue.
He added, “In 2025, Uttarakhand will celebrate the silver jubilee of its founding. Till then, special attention would be paid to what agriculture, horticulture, irrigation and other related departments can execute as pilot projects for the livelihood enhancement of farmers. On the silver jubilee year of the state, all the departments will have to do work that would be a model for the country and the Himalayan states. The Kisan Protsaahan Yojana would also soon be brought to the state.”
Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi said that, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, many schemes are being run by the Central Government and the State Government under the leadership of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami aimed at doubling the income of the farmers. He said that a target had been set to double the production in the field of agriculture and horticulture in the state by the time Uttarakhand would celebrate the silver jubilee of the state’s founding. Nurseries are being set up to provide high quality seedlings to the farmers.
Secretary, Agriculture, Shailesh Bagoli said that, along with promoting the products of the state, continuous efforts are being made in this direction to get good market for the products. Special attention is being paid to value addition of products. For the first time from the state, high quality fruits of Chausa and Langda varieties of mango produced by the cultivators of the state are being exported to Dubai. High quality honey produced by Farmer Producer Organisations is also being exported to the United States. Kidney beans (rajma), produced by the farmers of the state are also being exported to the United States.
On this occasion, Additional Secretary, Agriculture, Ranveer Singh Chauhan, Director, Horticulture, Dr HS Baweja, Director, Agriculture, Gauri Shankar, Regional Head of APEDA Dr CB Singh, officers of Agriculture and Horticulture Department and farmers were present.
