Loan waiver can't address issue of farmer suicides in Vidarbha

A loan waiver can give relief to some extent but it cannot address the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Union minister Nitin Gadkari today said.

The minister said it's difficult to check farmer suicides in the region unless 50 per cent of its land is irrigated.

Therefore, it's important to improve the irrigation potential to address the issue effectively, the Nagpur MP said.

Gadkari said leading milk supplier Mother Dairy is going to set up 40 centres in Vidarbha and the company will procure milk from the farmers in the region.

"This will benefit around 2.5 to 3 lakh farmers," he said.

FMCG major Patanjali will be focusing on Gadchiroli and Melghat region in Amravati for the procurement of Ayurvedic herbs, the minister said.

He said plans are afoot to introduce electric cars for jungle safari in tiger sanctuaries in Vidarbha region.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)