Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday asked farmers to form their own companies for marketing and exporting agricultural produce, and not be dependent on the government. The government can step in where they can not solve a problem, the Union minister said.
He was speaking at an outreach program organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, a government body, in association with his Agrovision Foundation.
Fifty to hundred farmers should come together to form a farmers' produce company to market their production in the open market, the BJP leader said. Such collectives can also build their own cold storages, he said.
"I (as a farmer) found a market for my produce on my own, you too should find a market for your produce on your own. I want to tell you one thing, don't depend on the government," the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister added. "You are the architect of your own socio-economic life," he said.
Gadkari also cited the example of Nashik-based farmer Vilas Shinde who achieved a turnover of hundreds of crores of rupees without any government subsidy or aid. The government can step in where farmers can not solve a problem on their own, the Union minister added.
(With PTI inputs)
