Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Karnataka Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy visited stalls during the Bengaluru International Fair on Sunday. | Photo credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.
Promising Karnataka’s help in uplifting farmers through infrastructure development, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday said the Center would help the state without any discrimination in agricultural processing and value addition activities to help increase farmers’ income.
“The Center will not discriminate against farmers on the basis of their political affiliation. It is the responsibility of the state and central governments to work for the welfare of farmers. Farmers are primarily political affiliation,” he said at the valedictory function of the International Fair here.
His statement came in response to State Agriculture Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, who pointed out the effective implementation of formalization of Pradhan Mantri for micro food processing enterprises and sought additional financial assistance in various schemes for development of food parks, cold storage, transport services, branding and export of agricultural produce of Karnataka to bring better income to farmers.
Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy also said that agriculture should transcend politics.
The Union minister offered a series of relief measures from the Centre, saying that though Karnataka is the largest producer of toordal in the country, the average yield per hectare is lower than the national average. “As part of the pulse mission, the center will offer assistance to increase productivity through scientific and technical support.”
Announcing the establishment of 25 ‘seed villages’, he said the center would particularly help in setting up ‘seed villages’ where farmers would produce their own seeds, in the growing regions of the toordal state.
“The Center will support FPOs, farmers’ organizations and the private sector with financial support of ₹25,000 each to set up 35 mills,” he said.
Acknowledging that coconut production has declined due to old or disease-affected coconut plantations, Mr. Chouhan said the Coconut Development Board would encourage the planting of new high-yielding coconut varieties. Technical teams have been formed to help prevent coconut palm diseases and Karnataka should avail their services, he added.
The Union minister said, “Rice varieties are being developed that could reduce labor costs, use 20% less water and could be harvested 18-20 days earlier. ICAR is developing special varieties that could meet Karnataka’s needs. The center will help Karnataka get its millets and processed food to the international market.”
He also said that the Center would soon release ₹154 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana along with another ₹191 crore.
The Union Agriculture Minister also visited the Indian Horticulture Research Institute here and interacted with scientists to understand the research and extension activities. He also interacted with farmers and incubators who benefited from IIHR technologies. He also interacted with the directors of Bengaluru-based ICAR institutes.
Published – 8 Feb 2026 21:01 IST
