Delhi govt to organize farmers conference on Swaminathan report

OFFICE OF THE MINISTER OF DEVELOPMENT

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

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New Delhi: 28/01/2019

Delhi govt to organize farmers conference on Swaminathan report on Tuesday
Development Minister, Shri Gopal Rai to preside over the conference

Development Minister, Shri Gopal Rai will on Tuesday preside over a farmers conference being organized by the Delhi government on the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee Report on Agriculture.

Delhi government had on 4th December last year formed an expert committee comprising a
Senior Scientist from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, farmers representatives and officers of the Agriculture Department for drafting the Agricultural Policy for Delhi.

The Committee has deliberated upon various issues pertaining to Agriculture in Delhi. One of the important issues before the Committee was to give recommendations on separate Minimum Support Price (MSP), 50% more than the weighted cost of production taking into the consideration the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee Report on farmers.

The Committee held couple of meetings under the Chairmanship of the Development Minister and various issues regarding implementation of the Swaminathan Committee Report in the context of Delhi were discussed.

It was felt that the cost of production should be calculated keeping in view the scenario of Delhi like increased wages of labour, cost of inputs and allied components in the market of Delhi.

Accordingly, a Committee of officers of Agricultural Unit was constituted for the purpose of calculating the cost of cultivation of wheat, paddy and mustard crop of Delhi. The Committee has worked out the cost of production and is in the process of calculating the average cost of production.

To further deliberate on these issues and to arrive at a reasonable weighted cost of production and to suggest at separate MSP for farmers of Delhi, the farmers conference has been convened at the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday.
The members of committee constituted for drafting Agricultural Policy, farmers and other stake holders and officers of Agricultural Department of Odisha and Telangana Government have also been invited in this brain storming session.
Final decision will be arrived at after further consultations with all stakeholders.

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