BATHINDA: A meeting of the 'Kirti Kisan Forum' comprising former IAS, IPS, provincial services and Army officers was held on Wednesday to discuss the challenges facing agriculture and rural development in Punjab and to find possible solutions. The discussions centered round reasons for falling groundwater level, crop diversification, minimum support prices for commodities, crop damage due to climate change, urge to settle abroad, suicides being committed in farm sector. Agriculture and food expert Davinder Sharma delivered lecture about global agriculture and food scenarios and minimum assured income for farmers in the country.
Presiding over the meeting, Swaran Singh Boparai and Ramesh Inder Singh said that 70% population of Punjab depended on agriculture for their livelihood. The entire economy of the state is directly linked to agriculture. Future progress depends on how quickly we can bring crop diversification and add value to food grains and then send them to the foreign market.
