Vishnu government’s care gives new support to farming

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 Vishnu Dev 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 on one hand fulfilled its resolution by purchasing 21 quintals of paddy per acre at the support price and paying Rs 3716 crore as 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 to the farmers as support price and paying Rs 13,320 crore as the difference in the price through Kisan Samridhi Yojana, it has been told that the way to strengthen the prosperity and 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. Only 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.

The Chhattisgarh government has also paid the difference amount of Rs 917 per quintal in the paddy purchased at the support price as per its resolution. This amount of Rs 3100 per quintal paid to the farmers is the highest in the country. In this year’s budget, the Chhattisgarh government has made a provision of Rs 10 thousand crore under the Krishak Unnati Yojana.

The Chhattisgarh government is taking many 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, the establishment of Directorate of Agricultural Engineering and construction of the building of the state level new agricultural machinery testing laboratory, Agricultural Engineer Office in Durg and Surguja districts and Quality Control Laboratory in Surguja district for testing chemical fertilizers will be established.

A target of Rs 8 thousand 500 crore to provide interest free agricultural loan to the farmers of the state from cooperative and rural banks and a provision of Rs 500 crore in the budget to provide financial assistance of Rs 10 thousand per year to landless families under Deendayal Upadhyay Bhumihin Krishi Mazdoor Yojana for the assistance of landless agricultural laborers.

To provide irrigation facilities to farmers in Chhattisgarh, efforts are being made to increase the irrigated area through Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana, Saur Sujala Yojana. Chhattisgarh government has made a budget provision of Rs 300 crore for 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 state government’s focus is on improving the condition of farmers and landless labourers in Chhattisgarh, and coordinated efforts for agriculture and supporting activities. In the current financial year, the agriculture budget has been increased by 33 percent and a provision of Rs 13,435 crore has been made. Chhattisgarh government has fixed a credit limit of Rs 8500 crore to provide interest-free agricultural loans to farmers from cooperative and rural banks.

In view of the current Kharif season, Chief Minister 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 farmer brothers demand DAP fertilizer more. 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 fertilizer 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, 6 lakh 39 thousand 4 quintals of seeds are available against the demand of 5 lakh 59 thousand 203 quintals of seeds, which is 114 percent of the demand. Farmers are continuously lifting seeds from the societies. So far, farmers have lifted 03 lakh 75 thousand quintals of seeds, which is 67 percent of the demand of seeds.