Dharamshala, June 13 -- Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said the state government will soon declare support price for potato to strengthen the economy of farmers. Sukhu said the state government is striving to strengthen the rural economy and a potato processing plant will be set up in Una district at a cost of about Rs.20 crore. He was chairing a state-level multi-stakeholder consultative conference organised by Himachal Pradesh Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network. The chief minister said the state government is promoting green energy and natural farming. "Minimum support price was fixed for crops produced from natural farming and it will be increased in the coming time. Many new schemes will be implemented in the coming year to boost the rural economy," he said. Sukhu said that after states in the north east, Himachal has seen the highest increase in cancer cases and efforts are on to find out the root cause behind the spike. He suggested that changing food habits could be a key reason behind the trend. The chief minister said 80% of the state's population depends on agriculture for livelihood, which is the backbone of Himachal's economy and contributes about 14% to the gross domestic product (GDP). He expressed concern over the changing pattern of weather and its adverse impact on the agriculture sector. "These challenges could be faced effectively by taking steps like climate tolerant agriculture, promotion of pulses, extensive animal husbandry, use of traditional seeds, emphasis on water security and soil conservation," the chief minister added....