Shivraj Singh Chouhan asks farmers to go beyond traditional agriculture for profits

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said farmers should look beyond traditional agriculture practices to make it profitable.
"Farmers should go for floriculture, horticulture and vegetable farming besides traditional agriculture for turning it into an profitable venture," Chouhan said in response to a question on the occasion of inauguration of Lokmat Bhawan here, set up by the Lokmat Group.

Chouhan said he himself was a farmer and as Chief Minister he took number of steps to turn agriculture into a profitable venture by increasing irrigation potential and providing loans to farmers at zero per cent in the state.

Referring to floriculture, Chouhan said even in his own agriculture field, he was growing flowers which have a lot of demand in the market.

To a query, he said issues related to girl child were close to his heart because of which he launched the 'Ladli Laxmi Yojna' and 'Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojna' among others.

Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who was also present on the occasion, lamented that his remarks on Hindu fundamentalism were highlighted and not portrayed in the right perspective by the media, which ignored his comments on Islamist fundamentalists.

Singh also clarified that he had once referred to slain al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as "Osamaji" ('ji'- a respectful suffix in Hindi), while taking a jibe at the Pakistani Army, but the media overlooked his further comments and wrongly presented as if he was sympathising with the terrorist.

The Congress leader also advised Chouhan to start a 'Chief Minister's Hour' in the Vidhan Sabha which he had initiated during his government in the state, by reserving an hour on every Monday to answer questions by MLAs.

Lokmat Group Chairman and MP Vijay Darda and Dainik Bhaskar Group's Managing Director Sudhir Agrawal were among others present on the occasion.