Chandigarh, Feb 21 : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar interacted directly with the farmers and invited their suggestions for the budget for the development of agriculture sector. Whatever necessary suggestions will come from the farmers, they will be studied and given prominence in the budget, he said while speaking in a meeting organized for pre-budget consultation with farmers and stakeholders related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries sector on Monday. Khattar said that a good budget will be presented this time keeping in mind the welfare of all sections. In this budget, more focus will be given on topics like development of agriculture sector and increasing the income of farmers. He said that new experiments are being done in the agriculture sector. Farmers will have to move forward with mutual cooperation, under which progressive farmers will cooperate and train other farmers to advance and the government will encourage such farmers. Along with this, emphasis will also be laid on making arrangements like Farmer Welfare Fund and Mutual Fund. The Chief Minister said that the government will cover families with annual income of Rs 1.80 lakh in the state under Ayushman Yojana, in which Ayushman cards would also be made for farmers with land up to 3 acres of the state. He said that it is the effort of the government that farmers’ income is increased by forming more FPOs. Apart from this, small units making jaggery and khand can also be set up in rural areas. This will encourage farmers to adopt sugarcane production instead of crops like paddy. Similarly, efforts to set up processing units for different crops will also be encouraged. Khattar said that instead of traditional farming like paddy and wheat, farmers would be encouraged to take on modern farming. Farmers will be trained for cultivation of pulses, horticulture, fisheries under crop diversification method and incentives will also be given to such farmers. To save groundwater sources, emphasis will be given to increase the production of other crops instead of paddy. He said that dairy farming is also a good option to increase the income of the farmers. Such breeds of animals will be developed in the state, which will increase milk production and benefit the farmers. He said that there are immense employment opportunities in all categories of agriculture sector. Employment opportunities in this sector will be increased by training the youth. The training system will be further strengthened. (UNI)