Vishnu government’s care gives new support to farming
Raipur. Agriculture has a big contribution in the country’s GDP. Agriculture is also the basic foundation of Chhattisgarh’s economy and it is called the rice bowl. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai, the state government has taken many decisions in the interest of the farmers of the state in a short period of time, due to which farming has got new support in the state. Farmers are very happy. A new hope has arisen in their minds.
The new government of Chhattisgarh has fulfilled its resolution on one hand by purchasing 21 quintals of paddy per acre at the support price and paying Rs 3716 crore for the outstanding paddy bonus of two years, while on the other hand, it has made a record purchase of 144.92 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers in the last Kharif marketing year. By paying Rs 31,914 crore as support price to farmers and Rs 13,320 crore as the difference in price through Kisan Samridhi Yojana, it has been shown that the way to prosperity and strengthening the economy of Chhattisgarh will come from farming.
Farmers believe that the decisions taken by the state government so far have made it clear that this government is a well-wisher of the farmers. Farming is the main basis of Chhattisgarh’s economy. Prosperity in the field of agriculture will strengthen Chhattisgarh’s economy and the dream of making it a developed state will come true. Keeping this in mind, the Chhattisgarh government has increased the agriculture budget by 33 percent this year. As per its resolution, the Chhattisgarh government has also paid the difference amount of Rs 917 per quintal in the paddy purchased at the support price. This amount of Rs 3100 per quintal paid to the farmers is the highest in the country. In this year’s budget, Chhattisgarh government has made provision of Rs 10,000 crore under Krishak Unnati Yojana.
The Chhattisgarh government is taking several innovative initiatives to promote agriculture in the state. Provision has been made in the budget to open Agricultural Business Management College and Research Center in Kunkuri of Jashpur district and Post Harvest Management and Processing Technology College in Ramchandrapur of Balrampur district, Government Horticulture and Forestry College in Silfili and Raigarh of Surajpur district, and Agriculture College in Khadgawan of Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district. To promote the use of modern equipment in agriculture, establishment of Directorate of Agricultural Engineering and construction of building of state level new agricultural machinery testing laboratory, Agricultural Engineer Office in Durg and Surguja district and Quality Control Laboratory in Surguja district for testing chemical fertilizers will be established.
There is a provision of Rs 500 crore in the budget to provide interest-free agricultural loan to the farmers of the state from cooperative and rural banks with a target of Rs 8,500 crore and to provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per year to landless families under Deendayal Upadhyaya Bhumihin Krishi Mazdoor Yojana for the assistance of landless agricultural laborers.
Efforts are being made to increase the irrigated area through Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana, Saur Sujala Yojana to provide irrigation facilities to the farmers in Chhattisgarh. The Chhattisgarh government has made a budget provision of Rs 300 crore for the new irrigation scheme, Rs 692 crore for ongoing minor irrigation projects, Rs 433 crore for NABARD funded irrigation projects and Rs 262 crore for construction of anicuts and stop dams.
The focus of the state government is on coordinated efforts for improving the condition of farmers and landless laborers in Chhattisgarh, agriculture and supporting activities. In the current financial year, the agriculture budget has been increased by 33 percent to Rs 13,435 crore. The Chhattisgarh government has fixed a credit limit of Rs 8,500 crore to provide interest-free agricultural loans to farmers from cooperative and rural banks.
In view of the current Kharif season, Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Dev Sai has asked to keep a constant watch on the status of quality fertilizer-seed storage and lifting in cooperative societies across the state. The Chief Minister has said that adequate arrangements should be made so that farmers do not face any kind of problem for fertilizer-seed.
On the basis of his long experience of farming, the Chief Minister has said that in the Kharif season, the demand for DAP fertilizer is high by the farmer brothers. Keeping this in mind, special monitoring should be done on the demand and supply of DAP fertilizer. To ensure the quality of fertilizer-seed, a special campaign of sampling and laboratory testing should be conducted.
Against the demand of 13.68 lakh metric tonnes of fertilizers in the state for Kharif season 2024-25, availability of 9.13 lakh metric tonnes of fertilizers has been ensured so far, which is 67 percent of the demand. Seeds of various Kharif crops are available in sufficient quantity in the societies. In Kharif season 2024-25, against the demand of 5 lakh 59 thousand 203 quintals of seeds, 6 lakh 39 thousand 4 quintals of seeds are available, which is 1% of the demand.
