NEW DELHI: Minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare, GoI, Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday asserted that while agriculture was the backbone of India, the cooperative movement is the soul of India.
Tomar said this while jointly addressing a curtain raiser event along with minister of commerce & industry and railways, Piyush Goyal to announce the India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) which will be held in New Delhi in October 2019.
Tomar said, “The fair will provide a good opportunity for cooperatives to showcase their products to a wider audience,” a release read.
Speaking on the occasion, Piyush Goyal said the government (of India) was committed for the betterment of the farmers of the country and “synergy between commerce and agriculture creates manifold opportunities for value added exports”, it read.
Goyal also informed that tribal cooperatives would be provided special concessions in the trade fair. He underlined the need to make farmers and agriculture-based industries self-reliant.
He said that both the ministries have committed to establish a framework to double farm exports from Rs 2.75 lakh crore to about Rs 7 lakh crore by 2024-2025
Piyush Goyal also announced that a cooperative sector export promotion forum will be established as an exchange platform for the cooperatives in India.
A large number of Indian cooperatives and international cooperative organisations are expected to participate in the three day event which will be held from 11th till 13th October 2019, the release read.