Include farmers as equity partners in industrial projects: APJ Abdul Kalam

THANJAVUR: Former President A P J Abdul Kalam has stressed the need to include farmers as equity partners in industrial projects if their land was to be acquired for industrial development.

If a nation has to develop, then so should its farmers. To achieve this, they should get the right to fix remunerative prices for their produce, just like any other producer, he said.

Kalam was addressing farmers and students yesterday at Periyar Maniammai University here on 'factors for development for agriculture'.

He urged farmers to market their value-added produce worldwide to get better returns and said they should adopt scientific technologies to ensure that agriculture remains economically viable for them.

The former President stressed the need to conserve water sources and for steps to retrieve encroached water bodies and said linking of major rivers was the only source to provide enough water for irrigation needs of farmers nationwide.