Addressing the National Conference for Rabi Campaign 2020 held to review the progress of Kharif 2020-21 and plan for the Rabi season, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said this year has established itself as a milestone in the history of Indian agriculture.
Tomar congratulated farmers and state governments for record food grain production of 296.65 million tonnes in 2019-20 under unfavourable conditions imposed by Covid-19. The pulses and oilseed production is expected to be at 23.15 and 33.42 million tonnes, respectively. Production of cotton is being estimated at 354.91 lakh bales with which India is set to rise to the first position in the world, he underlined.
Kharif sowing saw an increase of 46 lakh hectares more than normal sowing area, which provides a good opportunity for ensuring food and nutritional security of the country, Tomar stated.
Tomar said that the Government is taking revolutionary steps to strengthen agriculture infrastructure and the economic condition of the farmers. Recently Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme worth Rs 1 lakh crore for 4 years has been launched for creating facilities for cold storage, warehouse, packaging, ripening & waxing plants by agri-entrepreneurs, farmers’ association and local government agencies.
Tentative allocation to the states has been made on the basis of total value of output of the state from agriculture and allied sectors. A 3% interest subvention will be given on bank interest, making loan with an effective interest rate in the range of 5.0 to 5.5%.
Formation of 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs) is another such step to organize farmers in aggregation and marketing for higher returns. These will be registered under company or cooperative act and 15% will be constituted in Aspirational and Notified Tribal Areas.
The Union Agriculture Minister further elaborated that to improve the agriculture sector, two bills relating to freedom of marketing to farmers have been passed in Parliament. Farmers will get freedom to sell their produce at different places. These measures will attract large private investment leading to rapid development in agriculture and strengthening of the rural economy.
Tomar said that the Government of India has set the target of covering 100 lakh hectares in five years under micro-irrigation. During the last five years, an area of 47.92 lakh hectare has been covered under micro irrigation in the country which is a significant achievement.
The conference set a target of 301 million tonnes of food grains production for 2020-21. To reduce import of edible oils, great emphasis is being laid on production of oilseeds and oil palm plantation indigenously. This Rabi Focus is on Mustard under oilseeds and the target for production of mustard alone has been raised from 92 to 125 lakh tonnes.
Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Kailash Choudhary also graced the occasion. The conference was also attended by the Secretary and several other officers.
