Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan today visited Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions in Bengaluru and conducted a review meeting, while also directly engaging with farmers, animal husbandry practitioners, startup entrepreneurs, scientists and other stakeholders. During this, the minister clearly stated that India will no longer survive on anyone's mercy. He said that keeping farmers' interests paramount, we are creating an integrated farming model to increase farmers' income. Warning farmers, he said that pesticides pose threats to beneficial insects, earth and human health, and pesticide use will be reduced through insects. Additionally, Shivraj Singh said that animal husbandry practitioners will be protected from diseases by providing advance information about illnesses.

Union Agriculture Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan gathered information about the activities of ICAR's National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI) and while interacting with farmers, animal husbandry practitioners and other stakeholders, the minister said that today under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, the country is rapidly moving forward. Today's India is not such that anyone can suppress us; we are a free and sovereign nation, we will make our own decisions. No power in the world can dictate to us. Thanking the Prime Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that when one country in the world tried to reach a compromise, we clearly stated that our country's interests are paramount for us, and we will not compromise on farmers' interests. They thought we would get scared, but this is today's India that speaks eye-to-eye. The interests of our farmers, animal husbandry practitioners, cows, bulls, buffaloes, goats, fishermen will remain protected - this proclamation has been made by Prime Minister Modi ji. No one can suppress us. India will no longer survive on anyone's mercy.

The minister said that to make life easier for farmers and animal husbandry practitioners and increase their income, work cannot be done with just fields or food grains, wheat, rice, sugarcane, or one-two crops - we will have to do integrated farming. We should not only produce food grains, we should also produce rice. Here there are pulses - tur, arhar - we should produce pulses, oil seeds, along with food, vegetables, flowers, fruits, vegetables, medicinal cultivation and also focus on animal husbandry. The biggest problem in animal husbandry comes from diseases. Now we have to save farmers from this crisis, and therefore it's necessary that diseases are detected in time. Once a disease spreads, it becomes very difficult to control. Now through data analysis, we find possibilities of which diseases can come under which circumstances, and inform state governments so that arrangements can be made to protect animals from those diseases through advance vaccination. The forecast they make from 72 to 90-95% is almost accurate. The benefit is that state governments become active and start vaccination work. If vaccination happens, lives are saved and diseases cannot spread. The minister said that through the institute's efforts and the Government of India's initiative, the vaccination work done has controlled diseases like foot-and-mouth disease to a great extent.

Hon. Union Minister also visited the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) and reviewed its functioning. He observed demonstrations of NBAIR technologies for biological control of insects and while discussing with scientists, students, employees, farmers and entrepreneurs, appreciated the institute's contribution to sustainable pest management through biological control measures and emphasized the need for rapid development of farmer-friendly technologies and efforts to reach them to the farming community, especially small farmers. He expressed concern about indiscriminate use of pesticides and emerging pests like pink bollworm in Bt cotton.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan also gathered information about the mixed cultivation of coconut, papaya, banana and ginger by visiting a farmer's field. During field observation, a farmer named Shriram told the Union Minister that he had planted a special variety of banana called 'Nanjanagud Rasabale', which is not only delicious but can also be eaten by diabetes patients due to its low sugar content. After observing the field, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan explained that this banana variety has been struggling with virus for some time, so we have decided that a special team of agricultural scientists will be sent here so that this special banana variety remains safe and farmers benefit from it.

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