Efforts are being made to implement farm education in villages at the middle school level, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, adding that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 needed reforms in this regard.
Saying that agriculture has a major role to play in contributing to the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, Modi said agricultural self-reliance aims at making farmers both producers and entrepreneurs.
Interacting with students via video conferencing after the inauguration of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University‘s college and administration buildings in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi, the PM said that farm education at middle school levels in villages will help develop an understanding of agriculture and allow information to be transmitted on agriculture, modern farming techniques.
Laying stress on the role of agriculture in the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign, Modi said several historic agricultural reforms have been taken to empower the farmers — that include allowing them to sell their products anywhere in the country at better prices. “A special dedicated fund of `1 lakh crore has been set up for providing better facilities and promoting industries in a cluster-based approach,” said Modi. Modi also stressed that efforts are continuing to connect farming with modern technology.
“Research institutions and agricultural universities have a vital role to play. Now, there are three central agricultural universities compared to just one six years ago. Besides this, three more National Institutions, IARI Jharkhand, IARI Assam, and Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Integrated Farming in Motihari, Bihar, are also being established,” said the PM, adding that these institutes with farm education will give new opportunities to the students.
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