Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said PM Modi on October 11 will launch two new schemes for farmers' welfare, including 'Prime Minister Dhan-Dhanya Yojana' and 'Pulses Self-Reliant Mission'. He said the central government is working on six areas to improve the condition of farmers of the country and added that under the leadership of PM Modi, the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department is trying to ensure food security for every household in the country. He also added that efforts are being made to increase the income of farmers.
The Union Agriculture Minister said that 46% of the country's population depends on agriculture for their livelihood, and the Centre is working on these areas to improve their condition, and those include increasing production, reducing the cost of production, getting a fair price for the produce, compensation for loss, diversifying agriculture and emphasising natural farming.
Two schemes to be launched on October 11
The Agriculture Minister said that two schemes will be launched for the farmers: 'Prime Minister Dhan-Dhanya Yojana' and 'Pulses Self-Reliant Mission'. He said the Centre, with these schemes, will increase crop productivity, expand irrigation facilities and work to increase the availability of long- and short-term loans.
He said these schemes have been prepared on the same model for the aspirational districts, which were below the national average on many parameters.
He said the NITI Aayog will monitor it through its dashboard and will try to increase productivity by converging not just one but 36 schemes of 11 departments.
PM Modi to interact with farmers
Shivraj Singh said that PM Modi on Saturday will also interact with farmers of natural farming. "Our effort is that about 1 crore farmers should physically join to interact with PM Modi and get inspiration from him. Those who are not able to attend can watch it online at many places." He said efforts will be made to ensure that about 1.25 crore farmers join online.
Production increased by 40 per cent
Shivraj said that it is also important to ensure that our food storage remains intact for future generations. He said, "I am proud to say that if we look at the total production of food grains from 2014 till now, it has increased by around 40%. We have set records in the production of wheat, rice, maize, soybeans and peanuts. As a result of this, we are completely self-sufficient in wheat and rice; our reserves are full. We have exported agricultural products worth more than Rs 4 lakh crore."
