हिंदी
Chandigarh, September 22- Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. J.P. Dalal said that on the initiative of Haryana, declaring Minimum Support Price for Kharif and Rabi crops by the Central Government before the sowing season is certainly a welcome step. He said that with this step, now the farmer will have an option to decide in advance as which crop he wants to sow before the sowing season starts that would give him more prices.
Mr. Dalal said that the Central Government has yesterday announced an increase in the Minimum Support Prices of major Rabi crops like wheat, gram, mustard, barley and lentils from Rs 50 to Rs 300. Now the farmer will easily decide which crop he needs to sow during the Rabi season.
He said that positive results of this decision taken by the government in the interest of the farmers can be seen now. According to the recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission Report, not only the Minimum Support Prices of crops are increasing every year but the crop area is also increasing continuously.
Last year the area under paddy in the country increased from 274.19 lakh hectare to 321.79 lakh hectare. Similarly, the area of other Kharif crops was also improved and despite the adverse conditions arisen due to COVID-19, about 296.65 million tonnes of food grains were produced of the Kharif crops in the year 2019. He said that the production target of Rabi crops for the year 2020 has been set at 301 million tonnes.
Mr. Dalal has expressed hope that the area of the upcoming Rabi crops will also increase. He said that the Minimum Support Price of wheat has been increased by Rs 50 to Rs 1975 per quintal. Gram increased from Rs. 4875 per quintal to Rs. 5100, mustard increased from Rs. 4425 per quintal to Rs. 4650 per quintal, barley was increased from Rs. 1525 per quintal to Rs. 1600 per quintal and lentil was increased from Rs. 4800 per quintal to Rs.5100 per quintal.
He said that with the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department now the Cooperative Department has also been linked and the Government of India has named it the Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare Department. Chief Minister Mr. Manohar Lal has announced that 2000 outlets will open in Haryana under the Harit Brand, on which Haryana Agro Industries is working fast. This scheme will be launched soon and it will also create employment opportunities for the youth.
The Agriculture Minister said that the State Government is of the view that the time has now come for farmers to become entrepreneurs as well. For this, the Central Government has recently brought The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, by which farmers can sell their produce according to their wish not only in their own state but in the mandis of other states also.
Similarly, under contract farming, they can enter into an e-contract with any person or bank for his produce. Now they will not be required to mortgage their land with the bank for crop loans.
Mr. Dalal said that in order to make the agricultural products, perishable fruits and vegetables which can get spoilt in less duration will be made available directly to the consumers and ‘Kisan Rail’ has been started from Devlali to Danapur, which is a good initiative in this direction.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the sixth installment of Rs 17 thousand crore has been paid to the accounts of 8.50 crore farmers of the country. He said that during COVID-19, the State Government has provided financial assistance ranging from Rs. 4000 to 5000 to about 16 lakh families. Whether it is under Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana or made available through Building Construction Workers Welfare Board.
The Agriculture Minister said that the area under Kharif crops like rice, pulses, coarse grains, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton etc. is increasing continuously, which shows that if we analyze this increase from the year 2017 to 2022 every year, then we can easily conclude that this will double the income of farmers by the year 2022 as per the vision of Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi’s goal.
