Parul
Union Minister Kailash Choudhary on Wednesday said only about Rs 8,000 crore was availed under the government’s Rs 1 lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund last year despite creating awareness among farmers, and called on the farming community to take advantage of the scheme.
In his inaugural address at the three-day annual ‘Krishi Mela’ organised by ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the minister encouraged farmers to take advantage of the Fund and other schemes being implemented to make farming profitable and farmers self-reliant.
Choudhary also unveiled ‘Pusa Agri Krishi Haat Complex’ for direct marketing of farm produce to urban consumers. There is a provision of 60 stalls in this two-acre complex to promote farmer entrepreneurship.
“Last year, Rs 8,000 crore was sanctioned under the Rs 1 lakh crore agri-infra fund despite creating awareness. We still have Rs 92,000 crore. …More people should come forward to take advantage of these funds,” the Minister of State for Agriculture said.
He further said farmers — who need funds and realise how they can benefit from this scheme — need not visit banks. They just need to register online on the agri-infra fund website. Within two months, funds will be sanctioned, he said.
The minister also said the central government gives the bank guarantee and monitors regularly the projects to which the funds have been sanctioned from this scheme.
The agri-infra fund set up in 2020 aims at providing a medium to long-term debt financial facility till 2025-26 for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
Apart from this, Choudhary said several schemes like PM-KISAN, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana are being implemented to make farming profitable and improve the income of the farming community.
He also said the Modi government has implemented all recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee including on the minimum support price.
“The government is trying to ensure farmers earn profit from farming. As a result, the agriculture budget was increased to Rs 1,32,000 crore now when compared to just Rs 23,000 crore prior to 2013,” Choudhary added.
He said quality seeds, lower input cost, storage and risk coverage and marketing are the four pillars of the farm sector, and the government is providing facilities from seed-to-market to farmers.
In the coming days, farmers should take advantage of the schemes and move towards integrated farming to enhance their income, he said, adding that farmers need to be made self-reliant by empowering them with knowledge of farm technologies.
The minister also noted that the government has revised Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana guidelines and made it voluntary for farmers to take up the crop insurance. Even insurance companies have been allowed to tender for three years so that farmers can resolve the past claims easily with a company.
He said there is more enthusiasm in youth towards agriculture and they need to look for jobs.
The minister also gave away IARI fellow farmer awards to five farmers. They include Jagadish Reddy Yanamalla (Andhra Pradesh), Jagpal Singh Pogad (Haryana), Rao Gulab Singh Lodhi (Madhya Pradesh), Gurmeet Singh (Punjab) and Gangaram Sherpath, (Rajasthan).
