2022 has been an incredibly good year for Madhya Pradesh farmers: Kamal Patel, Agriculture Minister
Guest Author: Mr. Kamal Patel, Agriculture Minister, Madhya PradeshÂ
03 January 2023, Madhya Pradesh: Under the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Madhya Pradesh government took unprecedented decisions in the year 2022 in the interest of the farmers of Madhya Pradesh. These were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a Atma-nirbhar Bharat.
These decisions provided more than double the profit to farmers. We can say that the year 2022 fulfilled the saying “Na Bhuto Na Bhavishyati” for the farmers. The state government received ‘Krishi Karman Award’ for the 7th consecutive time, along with ‘Best Performing State’ for maximum utilization of agriculture infrastructure fund, ‘Best Emerging State’ in Millet Mission Scheme, and ‘Excellence Award’ in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
An important decision was taken to benefit the farmers of forest villages in the state through the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The government got the forest villages included in the revenue villages. With this, the farmers started getting the benefits of the crop insurance scheme. To enable maximum number of farmers to take advantage of the crop insurance scheme and to insure their various crops, the government has made the criterion of notified crop area to 50 hectares instead of 100 hectares. Lakhs of farmers of the state are being provided annual assistance of Rs. 10 thousand by combining Rs. 4 thousand of Mukhyamantri Kisan Kalyan Yojna with Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi.
It was decided to purchase summer moong from the farmers in the state at the support price, increasing the income of the farmers. The crops like gram, lentils, and mustard were procured along with the procurement of wheat. Due to this, the farmers got an additional benefit of about 10 thousand crore rupees. The government procured Tivda mixed gram on support price in 8 districts. The state government’s decision of ‘As much procurement as production’ increased the procurement capacity of gram (chana) and farmers got the benefit of an additional Rs. 750 crore. This year, the maximum daily procurement limit of 25 quintals for farmers in the Samitis was abolished.
Crop Diversification to encourage the production of profitable crops
A crop diversification scheme was implemented in the interest of farmers to encourage the production of profitable crops in place of traditional crops. The government is also committed to taking forward natural farming in the state in mission mode. Every farmer is being encouraged to do natural farming on some part of his land. The government has decided that natural farming will be done in more than 4 lakh 45 thousand hectare area on the banks of river Narmada. 60 thousand farmers have registered for natural farming in one lakh 86 thousand-hectare area. The state government has also decided that to encourage the farmers to do natural farming, a grant of Rs. 900 per month will be given for the rearing of indigenous cows.
Giving priority to the quality control of agricultural inputs in the interest of the farmers, the government also took strict action this year against the sellers of non-standard seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. This year, the action was taken to suspend and cancel the licenses of 136 seed sellers, 120 fertilizer sellers, and 14 pesticide sellers. FIR was registered against 39 sellers of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
With the special efforts of the state government, the regional office of APEDA was approved and made operational in the state. This office is located at Mandi Board Bhopal (Kisan Bhawan). This is facilitating the farmers of Madhya Pradesh to export their agricultural products. Along with this, they are also getting the maximum benefit from their produce. With the help of APEDA, Chinnor rice of Balaghat got success in getting a GI tag.
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