Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari to join 3-day agri event at Shivraj’s home turf, starting today

Defence minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a three-day national level exhibition and conference - Unnat Krishi Mela -- on Saturday at Raisen, under Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari is scheduled to join Monday, the concluding day of the event. Asked about the number of farmers to attend, which is talked about as a show of strength, Chouhan tried to downplay it saying it is more relevant what farmers take away from the conference. He said arrangements have been made to guide and help them with expert advice from agriculture scientists from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). All the queries of the farmers will be answered by ICAR’s scientists so that they know how to raise income by adopting new technologies and methods of practices, he added. Shivraj, while defending the move to hold the conference at Raisen, said that farmers from distant places are not able to reach Pusa Krishi Mela, a premier annual exhibition held in Delhi by ICAR’s Indian Agriculture Research Institute. He also said such events can take place in other states, too. This exhibition also assumes significance as it is being held after Chouhan’s own Viksit Krishi Sankalp Yatra was discontinued from last Rabi season even after dates were announced at a state ministers’ conference. The only Viksit Krishi Sankalp Yatra was held on the eve of Kharif 2025 sowing season when thousands of teams comprising agriculture scientists and experts visited villages directly on a fortnight-long yatra. The event is happening at a time when the country has seen Rabi season’s crop damage in 2.49 lakh hectares (as of April 8) due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms, according to latest compiled estimates by states, according to Chouhan. This area may further increase as and when states finalise the assessment of damage. “The Modi government stands firmly with farmers in this crisis,” Chouhan said adding he has also consulted the agriculture ministers of impacted states. Hailstorms had hit Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh during March and April. The union agriculture minister on Friday said that the government is ensuring smooth nutrient supply to shield against global price swings from West Asia tensions, as farmers are gearing up for the Kharif sowing, slated to begin from June with the arrival of south west monsoon. Chouhan also said that the pilot scheme on distribution of fertilisers on the basis of land records has shown good results and it will be scaled up for a nationwide roll out once the targetted 13-crore Farmers’ IDs are created. So far, 9.29 crore Farmers’ IDs have been generated where all information such as land holdings, crops pattern, yield, inputs usage are recorded. He also said that state-specific agriculture roadmaps based on agro-climate zones are in the works, with five zonal Kharif conferences planned this year, one at Jaipur already held last week. Published on April 11, 2026