Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that protecting the health of the earth is our highest duty.
“The reckless use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase production has badly affected the health of the Earth and the quality of the soil. This has also had a bad effect on human health,” said Shri Chouhan, in his Inaugural Address to the G20 1st Agriculture Deputies Meeting (ADM) of Agriculture Working Group (AWG) at Indore.
Stressing upon adoption of technology that is ecofriendly, Chouhan said it is necessary to adopt the campaign of Natural Farming started by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India has believed for centuries that nature should not be exploited, we should only harness natural resources. For the natural balance, it is necessary for humans as well as animals and birds to exist,” he added. Chouhan said, due to the ever increasing population, food security is an important issue facing the world today.
“Only 12 percent of the world’s land is suitable for agriculture. By the year 2030, the demand for food grains will be 345 million tonnes, while in the year 2000 this demand was 192 million tonnes. It is evident that neither the agricultural land is going to increase nor our natural resources are going to increase,” he said.
Chouhan said we should also make appropriate efforts to increase the productivity of agricultural land. “For this, the use of mechanization, digitalization, new technology and new seeds will have to be encouraged continuously,” he said.
Chouhan said that under the leadership of PM Modi, there has been continuous improvement in agriculture growth rate in Madhya Pradesh for a decade.
“The state has made significant contribution in meeting the country’s food grains needs. The state has been at the first position in the production of oilseeds in the country. Madhya Pradesh has 60 percent participation in the production of Soy in the country. Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of wheat in the country”, he said.
“We have made every possible effort to increase production in the state. In this, the work of increasing the irrigation area is noteworthy. In the year 2003, only 7.5 lakh hectare area was irrigated in the state. By increasing this, now we are irrigating 45 lakh hectare area. Our target is to provide irrigation facility in 65 lakh hectare. The use of new technology and good seeds is being encouraged in the state to increase production,” he added.
