In Assam, PM says Northeast can be hub of organic farming

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Gogamukh of Assam.

According to a report in NDTV, speaking on the occasion, Modi said, “I have come here for very important work. I have come to lay the foundation stone for a project that will change the face of rural India.”

Stating that time and technology did not wait for anyone, Modi asserted that Indian farmers should reap the benefits of the country’s progress.

Friday also marked the third anniversary of the Narendra Modi government coming to power. In this regard, the PM thanked the people of Assam for voting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power at both the Centre and in the state.

Asserting that the government would double farmers’ incomes, Modi claimed that his government had taken many major steps in the last 3 years.

Three years is not a lot of time for a big country like India. (But) we launched the soil health card for farmers," he stated.

"The science of helping farmers always existed. Scientists did not take birth after we came to power. But tokenism did not help the country develop," Modi said in a jibe at the UPA government which ruled for 10 years.

"Before our government came, there were 15 soil health card laboratories. Today there are 9,000. We have also fostered startups that will help the farm sector," Modi said.

Claiming that ‘if given water, our farmers can grow gold’, the PM said the government had launched a number of irrigation schemes. Modi declared that the farmers loved the government’s schemes as they were now getting more money from crop insurance than they ever had before.

The 66-year old PM asserted that the Northeast can become a hub of organic farming, said the report. He said that there was a big market for organic farming globally, and that while regular farm produce sold for Re 1, organic farm produce sold for 1 dollar.

Modi stated that instead of aiming for another Green Revolution, India should now aim for an ‘Evergreen Revolution’.

According to the report, Modi unveiled a five point programme to improve connectivity to the Northeast - Highway, Railway, Waterway, Airway and I-Way or information way.