'Farmers should take up agro-allied activities'

Farmers should take up agro-allied activities like poultry, dairy and bee-keeping to increase their income, Union minister Gajendra Singh has said.

He suggested that to double their income, farmers should spend 40 per cent on agriculture and 60 per cent on allied activities

"Income of farmers would never double if they depend on agriculture alone since the production is more than its demand," the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said.

He was speaking at an event at the Central Institute of Research on Goats, Makhadoom, on Thursday.

In order to facilitate farmers to take up dairying, the prime minister has extended the KCC card facility so that they can take loans for purchasing milk and yielding cattle, he said.

The minister said farmers can go for fisheries, bee-keeping or goat-keeping.

Singh also suggested small and marginal farmers take up collective farming.

The minister accepted that owing to several factors new technologies have not reached farmer.

He asked scientists to see to it that at least 10 farmers are benefitted with his or her research every year.

The government has not only introduced soil testing, but the farmer has been ensured improved varieties of seeds and fertilisers, he said.