"Agriculture & Forest Departments Must Raise Awareness Among Farmers on Govt Schemes": Assam CM

Chief Minister stated that the two divisions, in collaboration with the Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Department, should reach out to farmers at the village and cluster levels to inform them of various state and central schemes.

Farmers have always been the backbone of India's economy, and the primary goal of increasing awareness among farmers is to educate them about the latest government schemes so that they can take advantage of and increase their income.

"Our government has made so many important decisions for farmers in the last year," Sarma said at the start of the three-day 7th Assam International Agri-Horti Show. But I feel that our agriculture and forest departments are lagging in communicating with the public about these issues."

He cited several such programmes, such as allowing the sale of commercial trees planted on private land without the need for forest department permission and processing certain forest products without a commercial licence.

The chief minister also stated that his government has been working for the tea industry's welfare, and there has been an increase in the export of Assam orthodox tea this year, which will benefit the sector.

He stated that the administration has been working closely with the Food Corporation of India for the past year to ensure that farmers can sell their produce directly to the FCI at the minimum support price (MSP).

"We are keeping a watch to ensure that farmers are not duped by any quarter to sell their paddy at below the MSP. "We want to create 'crorepati' paddy farmers, not just 'lakhpati' paddy farmers," Sarma explained.

He emphasized the importance of agro-economy in boosting the state's overall development and pledged the government's full support. The CM also urged farmers to focus on organic and natural farming and the importance of millet farming on a larger scale, given its global importance for its nutritional value.