New Delhi, July 8 (KNN) Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh has requested to all the manufacturers to come forward for the commercialization of technology so that the appropriate technology may reach to the farmers to benefit them.

Singh said this while inaugurating the two-day Conference on “Innovations in Agricultural Mechanization – Development of linkage among R&D Institutes - Industry – Farmers” on Thursday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

In his inaugural address the Union Minister emphasized that agricultural mechanization is essential for agricultural modernization and accordingly its benefits need to be extended to all categories of farmers in each agro-climatic zones of the country.

Singh also stressed upon the need to transfer the latest technology to the farmers so that their income may be doubled by way of reducing the cost of cultivation and increasing production

The Union Minister has stressed upon the need for saving the water and the mantra “per drop, more crop”.

During the inaugural address, Singh emphasized on the establishment of four new Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes in the Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

However, most of our business due to small land holdings, using compatible equipment is not economically advantageous, he said.

Enable custom hiring centers for agriculture to farmers through agricultural machinery are available, and it is a good effort.

He has released the book namely “Farm Mechanization in India – The Custom Hiring Perspective” on this occasion.

The Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, S.K. Pattanayak stressed upon the formidable challenges in the agriculture sector such as shrinking land base, dwindling water resources, shortage of farm labour, increasing costs and uncertainties associated with volatility in international markets.

However, the challenges can be addressed and the productivity of the farm in-turn can be realized by increasing land and labour efficiency in agriculture through appropriate farm mechanization.

The national innovation foundation has stressed upon the need for standardization of grass root technologies developed by the rural innovators / artisans. The technology developed in the R&D systems of ICAR and private sectors have been shown to the farmers and the Government officials for their promotion and popularization. (With PIB Inputs)