India Aims for Agricultural Self-Reliance

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced India's ambitious goal to achieve self-reliance in the production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, aiming to eliminate imports in these sectors. This policy emphasizes identifying high-demand crops, ensuring profitable domestic production for farmers, and addressing post-harvest challenges like shelf life. The minister highlighted India's progress, citing domestic avocado production as an example, and stressed the need to extend this approach to other emerging crops like dragon fruits. The government plans to support farmers through incentives, quality seeds, and the establishment of 'seed villages' and 'daal mills'. Financial sanctions, including Rs 191 crore under the Pulse Mission and Rs 154 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, have been announced for states like India===Karnataka to boost agricultural development and pulse production.