Shobha stresses on Aatma Nirbharata in edible oil sector

New Delhi, Sept 22, 2021: Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Shobha Karandlaje stressed on enhancing the agri exports and agri products to be made chemic free.

The minister stated these to be the mantra for doubling the income of farmers.

Participating in the Vanijya Utsav organized by APEDA at Bengaluru today morning, Shobha said the country has become self-reliant in all most all sectors except edible Oils.

“Now it is time for us to grow Oil Palm and set up oil processing Units to achieve Aatma Nirbharata in the oil palm sector. India’s agri future lies in exports she said.

Last year India produced 305 million MT of food grains and 326 Million MT of Fruits and vegetables. Amidst COVID Pandemic the country produced record quantity of agricultural produce, the Minister said.

“But compared to other states Karnataka is lagging behind in exports. We are producing large quantity of food grains, fruits and vegetables which has demand in other countries and based on the demand it can be exported. But we need to focus on the quality of the produce as well as it should be chemical free,” she said. 

“Karnataka is blessed with varied agro climatic zones and we have to exploit this varied agro climatic zones to grow all variety of agri products. Also there is need for enhancing our R&D departments to get the good quality of agri produce which is suitable for exporting,” she added.

M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA  said as the Vanijya Utsav held at Bengaluru is one among the events organized as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Around 25 stalls of various agencies/ stakeholders were setup as part of the Exporters Conclave. Shobha visited the stalls and appreciated the efforts of the organizers.