Agriculture Infra Fund good opportunity for states to make agriculture prosperous: Union Agriculture Minister
30 July 2022, New Delhi: The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar, distributed the prizes to the bankers, state governments and other related institutions who successfully participated in this ambitious scheme at a function held in Pusa, New Delhi today.
Minister of State Mr. Kailash Choudhary, Secretary Mr. Manoj Ahuja, Additional Secretary Mr. Likhi and other senior officers and officials of various banks and state governments were present on this occasion.
Addressing the program, Agriculture Minister Mr. Tomar said that today’s program is based on the achievement of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. Agriculture Infra Fund has been brought to increase agricultural productivity in the country, to achieve mastery in agricultural exports, to make agriculture sector employable and to attract new generation.
In the self-reliant India campaign, more than 1.5 lakh crore rupees are being invested for agriculture and allied sectors. This should be used by the state governments and banks together in the development of the agriculture sector, filling the gap, this is a great opportunity for the states. State governments should use it to make agriculture strong and prosperous, which will make the country even better
Mr. Tomar said that agriculture sector is important for India. The sector has helped the country to come out of the crisis even during the covid epidemic and has also made a significant contribution to the economy.
Today India is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of agricultural products. There are 86 percent small farmers in the country, who have less than two hectares of land, while 55 to 69 percent of the country’s population is dependent on agriculture. In such a situation, continuous efforts are being made to upgrade the agriculture sector.
Abour Agricuture Infrastructure Fund (AIF):
PM Modi in 2020 announced 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund for farm-gate infrastructure for farmers. Financing facility of Rs. 1,00,000 crore will be provided for funding Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate & aggregation points (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies, Farmers Producer Organizations, Agriculture entrepreneurs, Start-ups, etc.).
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