Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan held a virtual review meeting of various schemes of the Ministry with the Agriculture Ministers of the States/UTs in New Delhi today.
Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Dr. Devesh Chaturvedi and other senior officials of the Ministry were present in the meeting. While reviewing the various works of the Ministry, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that in the new year with new resolutions, we will take forward the work of agricultural development and farmer welfare at a fast pace.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said from the Red Fort that I will work with three times the strength in the third term, we should also resolve that we will work with our full potential. Shri Chouhan said that it is a matter of happiness that this year the growth rate of agriculture sector and allied sector is likely to be between 3.5 percent to 4 percent.
For this, I congratulate our farmers and Ministers of all the states because these results come only due to the hard work of all of you. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we have a 6-point strategy for farmer welfare and development in the agriculture sector.
He said that first of all increasing production - how to increase production per hectare or per acre is the strategy of the government, for that ICAR continuously researches and releases improved varieties of seeds.
We are working in many directions like micro irrigation scheme, mechanization, use of technology, new agricultural methods etc. How to reduce the cost of production along with increasing production? We are working on reducing the cost of production to increase income rapidly etc.
Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has started PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. I am happy to tell that till now an amount of Rs 3.46 lakh crore (3 lakh 46 thousand crores) has been distributed to 11 crore farmers in 18 installments.
More than 25 lakh eligible farmers were added in the first 100 days of Modi ji's third term. The number of people taking benefit of the 18th installment increased to 9.58 crore (9 crore 58 lakh). Union Minister said that PM Crop Insurance Scheme is the world's largest crop insurance scheme. In this, loanee applications are 876 lakh and non-loanee applications are 552 lakh.
A total of 14.28 crore (14 crore 28 lakh) farmers have applied, 602 lakh hectare area is insured and the gross insured amount is Rs 2,73,049 crore (2 lakh 73 thousand 049 crore rupees). 4 crore farmers have benefited from the scheme.
Since the inception of the scheme, Rs 17 thousand crore has been given to the farmer brothers in the form of claim. Shri Chouhan said that we have a provision of subsidy on fertilizers to reduce the cost of production.
Last year, Rs 1 lakh 95 thousand crores were spent. The cabinet has decided on January 1 that the provision of Rs 66 thousand crores in the crop insurance scheme has been increased to more than Rs 69 thousand crores. Fertilizer subsidy like DAP will now be available at the price of Rs 1350 per 50 kg bag, a provision of Rs 3800 crore has been made for this. The Union Minister said that many measures have been taken, including the arrangement of loans at low interest on Kisan Credit.
There is a provision of Minimum Support Price i.e. MSP so that farmers get the right price for their production. He said that whatever wheat and rice comes, arrangements are made to buy it at MSP. From 2014-15 to 2024-25, 7 thousand 125 lakh metric tonnes of wheat has been purchased and 71 crore 75 lakh metric tonnes have been purchased.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, 1,60,818.63 metric tonnes (1 lakh 60 thousand 818 metric tonnes) of oilseeds, pulses and copra were procured. From 2014-15 to 2024-25, 3,338 lakh (33 crore 38 lakh) metric tonnes of wheat was procured for which 2.83 crore (2 crore 83 lakh) farmers were given MSP of Rs 6.04 lakh crore (6 lakh 4 thousand crore). From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 3.6 lakh (3 lakh 60 thousand) metric tonnes of maize was procured for which MSP is Rs 660 crore.
From 2019-20 to 2024-25, 41.19 lakh (41 lakh 19 thousand) metric tonnes of coarse grains (Shri Anna) were procured, whose MSP is Rs 12,153 crore (12 thousand 153 crore). From 2014-15 to 2024-25, 171 lakh metric tonnes of pulses were procured, for which 94.51 lakh (94 lakh 51 thousand) farmers were given MSP of Rs 91,892 crore (91 thousand 892 crore). Under MSP, Rs 1,588.48 crore (1 thousand 588 crore) was paid, which benefited 1,33,358 (1 lakh 33 thousand 358) farmers.
Union Minister informed that under the Agri Infra Fund, lending institutions will give loans of Rs 1 lakh crore. An amount of Rs 51,783 crore (51 thousand 783 crore) has been approved for projects worth Rs 85,314 crore (85 thousand 314 crore) till 2024.
Out of this, Rs 39,148 crore (39 thousand 148 crore) has been covered under scheme benefits. An investment of Rs 85,208 crore (85 thousand 208 crore) has been raised in the agriculture sector from the approved projects.
Shri Chouhan said that it is also necessary to pay attention to the legalization of crops. States are also making better efforts in this direction. Be it grains or horticulture, production has increased continuously. Food grain production was 265.05 million tonnes in 2013-14, which increased to 328.85 million tonnes in 2023-24.
Also, horticulture production was recorded at 352.23 million tonnes. Approval to allocate an amount of Rs 99,311.36 lakh (993 crore 11 lakh 36 thousand) to 15 states as central share to promote the cultivation of oil palm in 1.38 lakh (1 lakh 38 thousand) hectare area under National Edible Oil Mission.
Shri Chouhan said that there is continuous progress in the agriculture sector and we are all constantly making efforts for it. He informed that another campaign is being run under which the cabinet has recently approved to promote the natural farming mission for the damage being caused to the earth due to uncontrolled use of chemical fertilizers, we all have to start it together.
Shri Chouhan said that the main focus of today's meeting is on two things. I welcome all of you to discuss the issues of agriculture in the states. I invite you to talk on every issue. The main objective of today's meeting is that we give suggestions in the upcoming budget to fulfill our goals.
For that, we have also talked to farmers and stakeholders. The Agriculture Minister can explain the problems of farmers in a better way. If there is any suggestion or amendment required in relation to the budget and the ongoing schemes, then give necessary suggestions in this regard.
During the meeting, Shri Chouhan expressed happiness over SBI's report of rural poverty rate being below 5% for the first time in the financial year 2024 and discussed it. According to the survey, rural poverty is estimated to be 4.86 percent in the financial year 2024, which is a sharp decline from 7.2 percent in the financial year 2023 and 25.7 percent in the financial year 2012.
Similarly, urban poverty has come down to 4.09 percent in the financial year 2024, while it was 4.6 percent in the financial year 2023 and 13.7 percent in the financial year 2012. Recently, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi also said that more than 23 crore people have come out of poverty in the last ten years.
Regarding the crop insurance scheme, he told that earlier the loss was assessed manually through crop cutting now the Centralgovernment has decided that it will now be done through satellite based i.e. remote sensing.
This will ensure correct and accurate assessment of crop loss and the amount will be transferred at the right time through DBT, if any insurance company delays in giving the claim, then it will have to pay 12% interest on the amount.
He told that the Center will give its share of the amount immediately. He appealed to the states to also make arrangements to give money immediately in such a situation. He said that in the interest of farmers, many arrangements are also being made for weather based crops and many decisions have been taken in the interest of farmers in the recent past.
He told that in the case of top (tomato, onion and potato) crops, to bridge the price difference between the producer and consumer states during the peak time of harvesting, the government has decided to bear the cost of transportation and storage for the work done by the central nodal agencies.
States should come forward to implement the Price Deficit Payment Scheme as an alternative to oilseeds, for this the coverage has been increased from the existing 25% to 40% of the state production of oilseeds. The period has also been increased from 3 months to 4 months.
Moisture limit in soybean for 2024-25 has been increased from 12% to 15%. So far 11.41 lakh metric tonnes of soybean has been purchased from 6 states and it is still going on. Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy and farmers are its soul, serving farmers is worship of God for us.
Believing this, the Agriculture Department is working in collaboration with all you states. He said that I am confident that we will share suggestions together regarding the budget, improvement in schemes etc. and we will move forward together in that direction.