Lucknow: Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced the establishment of a Clean Plant Centre in Lucknow, aimed at accelerating horticulture development in Uttar Pradesh by ensuring the availability of high-quality, disease-free planting material to farmers.
The announcement was made during a high-level review meeting on Uttar Pradesh’s agricultural roadmap, implementation of central and state agricultural schemes, and rural development programmes, chaired jointly by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Yojana Bhawan in Lucknow.
Addressing the meeting, Chouhan said that a prosperous Uttar Pradesh is crucial to achieving the vision of a developed India. He emphasized that the state’s progress in agriculture, rural development and farmer welfare would significantly contribute to the national goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
The Union Minister also approved the extension of the procurement period for gram (chickpea), lentil and mustard, enabling more farmers to sell their produce at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). He handed over the approval letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who welcomed the decision, saying it would safeguard farmers’ interests and expand procurement benefits.
In another major development, Chouhan presented a list of 618,482 eligible beneficiaries for the next phase of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) to the Chief Minister. Yogi Adityanath reiterated the state government’s commitment to ensuring transparent and timely housing support for every eligible rural family.
The meeting also focused on the long-term vision of “Viksit Krishi @2047”, with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) presenting a comprehensive roadmap for transforming Uttar Pradesh’s agricultural economy from its current size of approximately ₹7.41 trillion to ₹96.96 trillion by 2047. The strategy emphasizes crop diversification, productivity enhancement, value addition, climate-resilient farming, and export-oriented agricultural growth.
According to the roadmap, Uttar Pradesh should gradually reduce excessive dependence on paddy and wheat while expanding cultivation of pulses, oilseeds, millets, maize, horticulture crops and other high-value agricultural products. It also advocates strengthening the entire value chain from production to marketing to ensure better returns for farmers.
ICAR experts stressed the importance of improving productivity through quality seeds, climate-resilient crop varieties, precision farming, micro-irrigation, digital agriculture, mechanisation and balanced nutrient management. The roadmap recommends separate long-term development strategies for maize, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables.
The plan also highlights integrated farming systems combining crop cultivation with dairy, fisheries, horticulture, mushroom farming, agroforestry and vermicomposting. Such models could increase farmers’ net income by more than 100 percent while generating additional rural employment opportunities.
To modernise agriculture, the roadmap proposes raising farm mechanisation levels to 75 percent by 2047 and promoting the use of drones, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), remote sensing and digital agriculture platforms. It also recommends establishing precision agriculture laboratories, soil-water-carbon observatories, bio-resource centres and agribusiness incubation hubs across districts.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath thanked the Union Minister for approving the Clean Plant Centre, extending procurement timelines and sanctioning new rural housing units. He said Uttar Pradesh is committed to making agriculture more productive, profitable and technology-driven through crop diversification, innovation and sustainable resource management.
During the review, Chouhan directed officials to ensure effective use of Soil Health Cards, expand coverage under the Kisan Credit Card scheme and connect more farmers with the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. He also stressed water conservation as a key priority under the Viksit Bharat campaign and assured uninterrupted fertiliser availability across the state.
The meeting also reviewed preparedness for possible El Niño conditions and discussed strategies for climate-resilient agriculture, water conservation and contingency planning to protect farmers from weather-related risks.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of State for Agriculture Baldev Singh Aulakh, Minister of State for Revenue Surendra Diler, and senior officials from the Centre and the state government attended the meeting.
