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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday once again appealed to farmers to adopt natural farming and also called for strengthening the dairy sector.

The Prime Minister, who was in Varanasi to inaugurate the Banas Dairy Kashi Sankul at Karkhiyaon, said that natural farming required less inputs, gave better output and was more beneficial because it earned higher returns.

"This method will make farming 'atmanirbhar'. Those working in startups should also explore possibilities for this," he stated.

Talking about the dairy sector, he said that the cow is our mother and held in high esteem. Those who ridicule this concept should know that India produces milk worth Rs 8.5 lakh crore every year which is more than the production of wheat or rice.

He said that in villages, cows were a sign of prosperity.

"We need to strengthen the dairy sector. The Banas Kashi Sankul will benefit dairy farmers from several adjoining districts. The dairy plant will also have a bio-gas plant that will take care of its power needs. The dairy farmers will now be able to sell cow dung for the bio-gas plant at a good price," he said.

The Prime Minister said that milk committees and collection centres would be set up and certification of purity would also be done.

"Now the sweets of Banaras will taste sweeter - whether it is lassi or chhena sweets or 'malaiyo' in winter. The dairy plant will enhance the taste of Banaras," he added.

He will also inaugurate and lay the foundation of 22 other projects.

The Prime Minister was in Varanasi earlier on December 13 to unveil the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor project.

According to the official spokesperson, Modi will also digitally transfer a bonus of about Rs 35 crore to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with the Banas Dairy.

The Prime Minister said that the double engine governments had ensured double development, and this was obviously unacceptable to 'some people' whose politics was based on 'mafiawad', parivarwad' and 'jaatiwad'.

Earlier, the Prime Minister launched a portal and a logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

The unified logo, featuring both the BIS logo and the NDDB quality mark, will simplify the certification process for the dairy sector and reassure the public about dairy product quality.

In another effort to reduce the number of land ownership issues at the grassroots level, the Prime Minister also virtually distributed the rural residential rights record, "Gharauni", under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh.