Hooda for doubling farmers' income

Chandigarh, Jun 5 (UNI) Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today called upon the State Agriculture Department to prepare a plan for doubling the income of the farmers in the next two years.

He also appreciated the efforts of the farmers and the functionaries of the Agriculture Department for having achieved such substantial hikes in productivity of all major crops in the state that would enable at least six per cent growth in the State Agriculture GDP during the year 2006-07.

The Chief Minister, while presiding over a meeting of the State Level Coordination Committee for Agricultural Production, also directed Agriculture Director R K Khullar to write a letter to all the Panchayats in the state to apprise them about the benefits of contract and organic farming.

Mr Hooda said efforts should be made to encourage the cultivation of floriculture especially in the NCR area besides reducing the cost of cultivation so as to increase the income of the farming community.

He said the judicious use of water should be ensured through sprinkler irrigation system especially in the Southern Haryana.

The Chief Minister said a target of production of 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains over an area of 19.10 lakh hectares during the Kharif crops -2007 had been fixed.

He also directed the Hafed authorities to motivate the farmers for opting contract farming so that their income could be increased.

UNI