Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the government needs to support farmers, who do not receive fair prices for their produce, as they are determined by global factors. Addressing the '2nd Edition of India Bio-energy & Tech Expo', he said the sugar price is determined by Brazil, the oil price by Malaysia, the corn price by the US, and the soybean price is influenced by Argentina.
"We are facing problems of poverty and unemployment in rural and tribal India because farmers are not getting good prices in the global economy," the minister said.
Gadkari said that 65 per cent of India's population is engaged in agricultural activities, but their contribution to the country's GDP is only 14 per cent.
"So, in this scenario, to protect our rural agriculture and tribal economy, we need to support agriculture...which is very important for the consumer, for the country and for you," he noted.
The road transport and highways minister pointed out that when the government permitted the production of bio-ethanol from corn, the price of corn increased to Rs 2,800 per quintal from Rs 1,200 per quintal.
"So, farmers were facing a lot of economic problems because they are not getting a reasonably good price for their crops," he said.
According to Gadkari, farmers have earned an additional Rs 45,000 crore by producing ethanol from corn.
"So, diversification of agriculture towards the energy and power sector is the need of our country," he added.
The minister said alternative fuel and biofuel have a great future in India.
"Presently, we are the importer of the energy...the day will come when we will be the exporter of energy, and that will be the most important historical achievement for the country," he said.
Talking about air pollution in India, Gadkari said 40 per cent of air pollution is due to transport fuel, and it is a big problem for the country, particularly Delhi.
"We are working in the national interest to reduce the pollution of our country," he said.
India imports fossil fuels worth Rs 22 lakh every year, which is causing pollution, the minister added.
"From an economic point of view, from a pollution point of view, it is the time for the world, and it is time for India to encourage biofuel and alternative fuel," he noted.
The minister also asserted that his aim is to make India a leader in sustainable aviation fuel.
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