Dialogue is way forward to resolve issues raised by farmers: Naidu

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday emphasised that dialogue was the way forward in resolving the issues raised by the protesting farmers. Interacting with a group of ''progressive farmers'' at his Hyderabad residence to mark ''Kisan Diwas'', Naidu said any issue could be resolved through talks. He pointed out that the government has already declared that it was always ready to hold a dialogue with the farmers'' organisations, an official statement said. 

Thousands of farmers have been camping at various border points of the national capital for almost four weeks now. Protesting farmer unions, who have stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of all the three agri laws, have not yet conveyed their decision on the central government's offer for fresh talks. 

The government has sent a draft proposal to unions offering at least seven amendments to the three legislations that were enacted in September. 

At least five rounds of formal talks with the protesting unions have failed to break the deadlock, but a number of other farm groups have been meeting the government in the meantime to extend their support to the new laws. 

While the government has presented the three laws as major reforms, protesting farmers fear they would weaken the mandi and MSP systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporates. However, the government has maintained these apprehensions are misplaced and has accused opposition parties of misleading the farmers. 

The vice president said food security and progress of the nation were closely linked to agriculture, which has to be protected and made sustainable and profitable. 

Stating that the government has taken many initiatives with a view to double the income of farmers, he stressed on the need to increase productivity and make agriculture climate-resilient. 

There was also a need to promote crop diversification, organic farming and nutrition-rich varieties, Naidu said. 

The Vice President said it was equally important to create adequate infrastructure, including cold storage facilities, transport and marketing mechanism for farmers. He said the e-NAM facility would help the farmers to effectively market their produce. 

Highlighting the need to supplement the income of farmers, he quoted a study carried out by MANAGE, which revealed that there was no suicide by farmers who had taken up allied activities and backyard poultry. 

Naidu lauded the country's farming community for their selfless service in producing record food grains in spite of the hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The farmers, some of whom came along with their family members, shared their experiences with the vice president. 

All of them informed Naidu that they were quite happy after switching over to organic and natural farming as they were getting good profits because of diversification and intercrop cultivation, the statement said. 

The farmers said that with less input costs, they were getting better and higher yields. They were using technology along with traditional methods and getting better results. The farmers said marketing is the key for the success of agriculture, the statement said.