Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the issues raised by the farmers can be resolved through dialogue.

“The Government has already declared that they are always ready to hold a dialogue with the farmers organisations,” he said.

He was interacting with a group of progressive farmers on the occasion of ‘Kisan Diwas’ (Farmers’ Day) here on Wednesday.

“Food security and progress of the nation were closely linked to agriculture, which has to be protected, made sustainable and profitable,” he said.

He said there was a need to increase productivity and make agriculture climate-resilient. “We need to promote crop diversification, organic farming and nutrition-rich varieties,” he said.

He said it was important to create adequate infrastructure, including cold storage facilities, transport and marketing mechanism for farmers.

Quoting a study carried out by MANAGE (National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management), he said there were no suicides by farmers, who had taken up allied activities and backyard poultry.

The farmers, some of whom came along with their family members, shared their experiences with the Vice-President.

G Nagaratnam Naidu, a farmer from Chittoor, informed the Vice-President that he was implementing integrated farming, bio-diversity and effective water management.

Byrapaka Raju, a farmer from Nagarkurnool district, said he was a distressed farmer once but came out of the distress by following progressive farming methods.

Published on December 23, 2020