Chandigarh, February 2 - Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that in the Union Budget presented yesterday, several steps have been taken keeping in mind the interests of the farmers. Wheat procurement in Rabi season 2021-22 and estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif 2021-22 will include 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers and Rs 2.37 lakh crore of MSP price will be paid directly into the accounts of farmers. It is noteworthy that in Haryana, the payment for the procurement of crops is already being made directly to the accounts of the farmers.
Kisan Drones will be promoted
Underlining the use of new technology, the Chief Minister said that estimation of agricultural crops, digitization of land documents and use of 'Kisan Drones' for spraying pesticides and nutrients would be promoted. The Haryana government has already constituted a Drone Authority in the state.
More focus on natural farming
He said that the budget has also focused on natural farming instead of using chemicals. Chemical free natural farming will be promoted across the country, in the first phase, special attention will be given to the farmers' lands falling under 5 km wide corridors adjacent to the river Ganga.
Digital and Hi-Tech Services for Farmers
The Chief Minister said that a new scheme would be launched in PPP mode under which digital and hi-tech services would be provided to the farmers. For this, public sector research and extension institutions as well as private agricultural technology companies and stakeholders in the agricultural value chain will be involved.
Start-up Fund for Agriculture and Rural Enterprise
Sh. Manohar Lal said that assistance will be provided from NABARD for mixed capital fund created under co-investment model. The objective of this fund will be to finance start-ups related to agriculture and rural enterprises suitable for agricultural product value chain. The activities of these start-ups would include, inter alia, providing decentralized machinery on rental basis to farmers at farm level and IT based support for FPOs.
Ken Betwa Link Project
He said that the Ken-Betwa Link project would be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 44,605 crore. The objective of this scheme is to provide irrigation facility on 9.08 lakh hectare agricultural land. Apart from supplying drinking water to 62 lakh people, the project will also provide 103 MW hydro and 27 MW solar power. He said that an allocation of Rs 4,300 crore has been made for this project in the Revised Estimates 2021-22 and Rs 1,400 crore in 2022-23. He said that the draft DPRs of five river links and Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery have been finalised. The Central Government will release assistance for their implementation as soon as there is an agreement on these among the beneficiary states.
Assistance for food products
Provision has been made in the budget for post-harvest value addition, increasing domestic consumption and branding of food products at domestic and international level.
Scheme for production of oilseeds
The Chief Minister informed that for the promotion of domestic oilseeds production, the implementation of the Samagra Yojana has been announced. A rational and comprehensive plan will be implemented with the objective of increasing the domestic production of oilseeds to reduce our dependence on the import of oilseeds.
Food Processing
He said that the Central Government, in partnership with the State Governments, would provide a comprehensive package to assist the farmers to adopt suitable varieties of fruits and vegetables and use appropriate techniques of production and harvesting.
He said that the states would be encouraged to revise the curriculum of their agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic agriculture, modern agriculture, value addition and management.