Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday emphasised the need to empower rural youth through entrepreneurship in agriculture during his visit to Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Solan, where he interacted with students, faculty, and researchers.
Marking a personal and emotional moment, the Vice-President planted a sapling in memory of his late mother, Kesari Devi, on the university campus.
He also visited an exhibition showcasing the work of various Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and agri-startups, lauding the innovation and enterprise of young agricultural entrepreneurs.
Addressing the gathering, Vice-President Dhankhar urged students to become change-makers within their farming families.
“Boys and girls like you must initiate your families into the marketing of their produce,” he said, highlighting the urgent need to bridge the gap between agricultural production and market access.
He stressed that rural youth from farming backgrounds must be trained to become entrepreneurs and agripreneurs, empowering them to drive change in India’s vast yet underutilised farm economy.
“We must build a force of such youth,” he added, describing agriculture as an “enormous, unmatched, and full of potential” sector that still sees limited direct participation by farmers in economic value chains.
Dhankhar called for greater involvement of farmers in value addition at the farm level—whether individually or through organised clusters.
He cited the example of the United States, where farming families earn higher average incomes than non-farming families, largely due to direct government support reaching farmers without intermediaries.
“In progressive economies like the US, farmers have a major stake. We need to replicate that model here, with transparency and empowerment at the grassroots,” he emphasised.