MUMBAI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday said “value addition” to farm produce will bring qualitative improvements in the lives of farmers.

Addressing an event in Gondia district of Maharashtra, the Vice President asked Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to make a value addition to rice for its marketing.

“I want to tell CM Shinde to do value addition to rice as its main marketing point. For the growth of farmers, value addition to their produce is important. Such changes would bring qualitative improvements in the life of cultivators,” he said.

The vice president recalled gold reserves had once been deposited in Switzerland-based banks to sustain our economic credibility, but India has progressed and moved ahead of the countries that once ruled us.

“India is currently the fifth largest economy in the world. In the next two to three years, we will move ahead of Germany and Japan,” he added.