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Ministry of Rural Development
15-February, 2018 19:38 IST
Shri Narendra Singh Tomar reviewed various Rural Development Programmes being implemented in Jammu & Kashmir

Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today reviewed status of various Rural Development programmes being implemented in Jammu and Kashmir. Shri Thomar said that MGNREGA has provided employment to 6.23 lakh households in FY 2016-17 with a substantial increase in the average number of person-days per household. Job cardholders in J & K had got around 51 days of wage labour, which has been increased from 36.4 days in FY 2014-15 to around 51 days in FY 2016-17. Jammu and Kashmir has also reported increase in total expenditure under MGNREGA and spent Rs. 842.10 core during FY 2016-17. Shri. Tomar said that during the current financial year, Central Government has released around 993.70 cores to J & K, which helped Government of J & K to provide 229.6 lakh person days of wage labour during FY 2017-18. Minister noted that in the current financial year MGNREGA funds are also used to create individual livelihoods assets like Vermi/NADEP Compost Tanks and community assets such as Aaganwadi Centres (AWC). Government of J & K has requested to consider construction of bunkers/shelters and snow cleaning as permissible activities under MGNREGA.

The Minister said that as per Socio Economic Caste Censes (SECC), Jammu and Kashmir has nearly 2.65 lakh households which are eligible for houses under the Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana (Gramin) scheme. Out of this, nearly 65,753 households are to be completed by March 2019. During FY 2017-18, J & K is required to complete a target of 21,752 houses. The Minister directed concerned officials to expedite the work under PMAY (G) and also asked department of RD & PR to upload the progress on Awaassoft on a regular basis. The Minister had also requested the state government to release matching grant and spend the unspent funds available under PMAY (G) and submit the proposal for the 2nd instalment of the special project for rehabilitating 3821 BPL families whose houses were completely damaged in floods. The Minister shared that NIRD & PR has been developing low cost, easy to replicate housing technology such as brick making. He advised J & K team to visit NIRD, Hyderabad and adopt the technology in the construction of PMAY (G) houses. Minister has also advised to involve SHG women in the production of material for house construction.

Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, more than 8115 km of roads have been constructed and 1480 habitations have been provided all weather roadstill January 2018. Since 2014-15, the Ministry of Rural Development has released about Rs. 1979 crore as central share to Jammu and Kashmir. Out of which Rs. 1667 crore has been spent and works amounting to Rs. 5053 crore is ongoing in Jammu and Kashmir. The minister noted that as on date, 1155 works with a road length of 6673.4 Kms are pending. He asked to expedite the work and ensure connectivity of remote villages on a priority basis. The Government informed that for phase X projects, compensation for acquiring forest and land for construction of roads require around Rs. 800 crores. PWD department officials informed that the work will be started once the land acquisition is completed.

Under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission, since 2014-15, more than 19000 Self Help Groups (SHGs) have been promoted in J & K. These SHGs have been provided a capitalization support of Rs. 68.6 crore from the Mission. The Government is also facilitating women SHGs to access bank credit. Due to the efforts made by the Mission, SHGs accessing bank linkage has doubled from 1831 SHGs in 2014-15 to 4158 SHGs in FY 2017-18 (Jan’18). In order to promote self-employment, MORD had launched Start Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) to support rural entrepreneurs. SVEP has been initiated in two blocks Basholi (Kathua district) and Lar (Ganderbal district). Under SVEP, an amount of Rs. 2.09 crores have been released against the proposed outlay of Rs. 9.31 crore

As part of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s development package for reconstruction of J&K, 1 lakh youth are to be trained on wage employment under the Himayat scheme during 2016-2019. Sh. Tomar informed that his ministry has approved an action plan of skilling 1.24 lakh youth (additional 24000 youth to be trained from the existing targets) during 2016-19 at an estimated cost of Rs. 1581 crore. The central government has been providing necessary funds to meet the targets. The Himayat Project Mission Director, informed that nearly 8000 youth have already been trained while 1091 are currently undergoing training. Multiple projects have been sanctioned by the State Level Project Review Committee (SLPRC) in the recent past and it is expected that the number of youth trained will increase exponentially in the near future. The Minister noted that the State Government need to expedite sanction and release of funds for the projects approved by the SLPRC on 13th September, 2017.Under the RSETI programme, nearly 15000 candidates have been trained during FY 2016-17 and 2017-18. The officials informed that about 9500 candidates have been settled under the scheme from April 2016 till Jan 2018.

Under the National Social Assistance Programme, nearly 1.4 lakh persons availed benefit under the old age pension scheme in 2016-17, 8334 women were covered under the Widow Pension scheme, about 2800 persons under the Disability pension scheme while 392 families received assistance under the National Family Bereavement Scheme.The total expenditure reported for the year 2016-17 was nearly Rs. 49.5crores against releases amounting to Rs. 45.7crores. The minister emphasised that the State government should strive for 100% Aadhar seeding and 100% Aadhar Based Payment (ABP) to NSAP beneficiaries. The Minister advised to conduct gram sabhas for inclusion of any left-out families in the SECC and send list of families to be added in the SECC data latest by 31st March 2018.

In the meeting Shri. Abdul Haq Khan, Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj and Law & Justice, Government of Jammu and Kashmir and senior officials from Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj had participated. Shri. Khan informed that his department has been focusing on rural livelihoods, sustainable agriculture,wage employment, skill development, creating infrastructure under MGNREGA in rural areas. He assured that his department will take necessary steps to expedite development activities and use the central assistance for development of Jammu and Kashmir. Shri. Khan reiterated that his department will ensure implementation of all the development activities as per the vision of Hon’ble PM, Hon’ble Chief Minister, J & K and Minister, Rural Development. Shri Khan also thanked Shri. Tomar for supporting various development programmes in Jammu and Kashmir.

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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
16-February, 2018 17:31 IST
Curtain Raiser for National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”

‘Shaping & sharpening the vision of the Government on Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022 into actionable points’

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) is organizing a National Conference under the title of “Agriculture 2022 – Doubling Farmers’ Income” at National Agriculture Science Complex (NASC), Pusa, New Delhi. It is a two days conference scheduled on 19th and 20th February, 2018. The Conference is being organized on the advice of the Hon’ble Prime Minister with a view to identify various critical issues relating to agriculture and farmers’ welfare and finding appropriate solutions. The main aim of the conference is to build a consensus around appropriate recommendations that will help in shaping and sharpening the vision of the Government on Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022 into actionable points. The idea is to arrive at practicable solutions that can be implemented for the benefit of farmers in the country. Government is keen to find and adopt the suggestions of the participants that will help in yielding quick results across the agricultural sector, comprising several sub-sectors in addition to initiating long term interventions. The focus would be on the human element of this primary sector, i.e., the farmer. It shall be farming for the farmer.

As many as seven broad themes have been identified for the conference and some of these also have sub-themes (Annexure-I). The participants comprising farmers, farmers’ associations, scientists, economists, academics, trade industry, professional associations, NGOs, policy makers and officers have been assigned to different themes and sub-themes, such that the issues are examined from multiple angles and comprehensive recommendations are made. Senior officers leading various domains including agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying & fisheries, marketing, & cooperation have been invited as their appreciation of the field will be important in harmonising National and State level policies and programmes. It is also expected that an implementation strategy as well as outcomes arising from these suggestions would be defined and reconciled into the Government’s Strategy for Doubling Farmers’ Income by 2022 on which the Inter-Ministerial Committee is finalising its strategy.

On the first day, the conference will be attended by several dignitaries such as the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog, Ministers of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Member (Agriculture) NITI Aayog, etc. After a brief opening session, technical sessions will begin. The technical sessions will consist of a presentation by Member (Agriculture) NITI Aayog who will set the context, followed by those of the Joint Secretaries in the Ministry regarding their respective schemes.

On the second day i.e. 20th February 2018, the groups for each theme will finalise their presentations and recommendations by lunch time and make their presentations in the final section that will begin from 4.30 p.m. in the presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

The Governor of Himachal Pradesh Shri Acharya Devvrat, who has a passion for agriculture has consented to be at the Conference and guide the deliberations through both the days.

The select participants numbering about 300 have been invited from across the country with varied background, and are expected to bring to the table their domain experience and expertise. In order to make the deliberations comprehensive and productive, the Ministry has facilitated the following:

  1. The participants assigned to each theme constitute a random mix, and each is led by a Coordinator (from outside the Governments) and supported by a Facilitator, who is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry.
  2. All the participants have been provided with background material on all the themes prepared by reputed institutions/organisations.
  3. A handbook consisting of various schemes, programmes and missions of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, as also of other Ministries/Departments that support the agriculture sector have been prepared for the benefit of the participants.
  4. More importantly, the Facilitators have enabled a month-long pre-workshop deliberations using electronic platforms – emails, WhatsApp Groups etc. Some of the theme Coordinators have also been conducting physical meetings.

The Hon’ble Prime Minister has kindly agreed to join the Conference in the last session on 20th February and hear all the presentations. Thereafter, he will be sharing his vision and insights on agricultural development and farmers’ welfare.

The Ministry is also inviting various Union Ministers to seek their advice and guidance. In fact, the Ministry has already had the benefit of advice from the Vice-President, Union Minister for Home, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. The Ministry had elaborate discussions with theme on the issues of farmers in the country.

It is expected that the Ministry of Agriculture will benefit from valuable inputs that will emerge from the Conference, being organised under the guidance of Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh and the Ministers of State Shri Parshottam Rupala, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Smt. Krishna Raj.

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The Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri S.K. Pattanayak addressing a Curtain Raiser Press Conference on the National Conference ‘Agriculture 2022-Doubling of Farmers Income’, in New Delhi on February 16, 2018. The CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Shri Ashok Dalwai is also seen.
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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
17-February, 2018 16:47 IST
Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addresses the National Banana Festival, 2018 held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressed at the National Banana Festival, 2018 held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala today. Text of Shri Radha Mohan Singh’s speech is following:-

Banana and plantains major staple food crop for millions of people in tropical developing countries, have a history of over 4000 years, dating back to 2020 BC. Banana is native of India and is widely grown in tropical, sub-tropical, and coastal region of India. In the recent years, there is a growing recognition of the importance of banana and plantains as household food, nutritional security, as well as social security in many parts of the world. In India, there has been a significant increase in terms of area, production, and productivity in the last two decades.

Today, banana is cultivated in more than 130 countries across the world in 5.00 million hectare and yielding 103.63 million tonnes of banana and plantain (FAO, 2013). India is the largest producer of banana in the world with 29.7 million tonnes from an area of 0.88 million hectares with a productivity of 37 MT/ha. Although India accounts for only 15.5per cent in area, its contribution in the world’s production is 25.58per cent. Thus, banana has emerged as one of the important fruit crops, which is easily available to common man. It is predicted that with ever-increasing demand, 60 million tonnes of banana will be needed to meet the domestic demand in 2050. There is also a considerable scope for the export of banana and its products, which further enhances the demand. Bananas and plantains are continuously showing an impressive growth worldwide. It’s year round availability, affordability, taste, nutritional and medicinal value makes it the favourite fruit among every section of the society with good export potential.

World banana production is concentrated in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America because of the climatic conditions. Production and productivity of banana has considerably increased with expansion of area due to interventions under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, which promotes adoption of High Density Planting, use of Tissue Culture Plants and other interventions in Post-Harvest Management (PHM) infrastructure. So far, 11,809 pack houses and 34.92 lakh MT of cold storage capacity have been created in the last three and half years. The growing awareness of banana for its nutrition high economic returns, and export potential, area under banana cultivation has increased. In three and half years, Banana Producing Farmers have benefitted from Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme initiated by the Modi Government.

Due to urbanization and erosion of wild bananas in their natural habitat, there is a need to conserve the available genetic diversity. Musa wild species and its allied species form an important source for resistant genes for biotic and abiotic stresses. Biotic and abiotic stresses are the main constraints, which reduces the productivity considerably. Production constraints also vary from region to region, however, many problems are similar in nature. This complexity of problems calls for basic, strategic, and adaptive research to maximize the productivity.

Banana and plantain breeding has its inherent complex problems and recent biotechnology tools/approaches help in achieving the projected results, and the real impact can be expected in the near future. With a production target of 60 million tonnes in 2050, the major production constraints like increasing input costs such as fertilizers, irrigation and management of insect pests and diseases like TR4 are being done to maximize the production.

New initiatives are being taken to give a fillip to the areas like genetic engineering, molecular breeding, organic farming, integrated pest and disease management, physiological, bio-chemical and genetic basis for biotic and abiotic stress management, adoption of post-harvest technology, use of ripening chamber and value addition from waste to wealth. I am sure that deliberations made in the conference will form the base for strengthening research and opening up new opportunities to fulfil its mandate in banana research and address the future challenges for higher growth and development, so that doubling of farmer’s income could be achieved.

APS/AK

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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh lighting the lamp to inaugurate the National Banana Festival, 2018, at Kalliyoor, Thiruvananthapuram on February 17, 2018. The Member of Parliament, Shri Suresh Gopi and the former Union Minister of State, Shri O. Rajagopal MLA are also seen.
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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressing after inaugurating the National Banana Festival, 2018, at Kalliyoor, Thiruvananthapuram on February 17, 2018.

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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh visiting the exhibition stalls, organised as part of the National Banana Festival, 2018, at Kalliyoor, Thiruvananthapuram on February 17, 2018.


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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
19-February, 2018 15:51 IST
Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh addresses inaugural session of National Conference ‘’Agriculture 2022 - Doubling Farmers’ Income’’

Government ensuring availability of sufficient funds for each component of Seven-Point' Strategy devised for doubling farmers’ income: Agriculture Minister

Government keen on making agriculture policies and programs 'income centric' instead of 'production-oriented' – Shri Radha Mohan Singh

The government is working towards increasing farmers’ income and that’s the reason that the budget for Agriculture has been increased from Rs.51,576 crore in 2017-18 to Rs.58,080 crore for the year 2018-19 while ensuring sufficient funds for each component of the Seven-Point' Strategy devised for doubling farmers’ income. This was stated by Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh while addressing the National Conference ‘’Agriculture 2022 - Doubling Farmers’ Income’’.

The inaugural session of the summit was attended by the Governor of Himachal Pradesh Shri Acharya Devvrat; NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Shri Rajiv Kumar; Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Farmers' Welfare & Panchayati Raj Shri Parshottam Rupala; Minister of State Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat; Minister of State Smt. Krishna Raj; and Shri S.K. Pattanayak, Secretary, Department of Agriculture. Organized at the NASC Complex at Pusa in New Delhi, the summit is being attended by senior officials from the Central and State Governments, scientists, economists, trade industry, professional associations, representatives of corporate and private sector companies & farmers, NGOs and academics.

Shri Radha Mohan Singh said the apart from keeping the food and agricultural products warehouses well-stocked, the Government is keen to see farmers prosper and is working diligently to achieve the same. He further said that in this budget, an announcement of Rs. 2000 crore for Agri Market Development Fund has been made, which shows the importance of the retail market in agriculture marketing. These markets have been called as GRAM (Gramin Retail Agriculture Market). Through these markets infrastructure of 22,000 Rural Haats and 585 APMC markets will be developed.

The Minister said that as promised by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Government had started forming a committee in April 2016 to implement a comprehensive plan to double the income of farmers. The Committee included senior economists, Joint Secretaries of food processing, crop, Animal Husbandry and Dairy and Policy Departments; Agricultural Advisor to NITI Aayog and many other non-official members. The Government is keen to make agriculture policies and programs 'income centric' instead of 'production-oriented'.

To achieve this ambitious objective, as suggested by Hon'ble Prime Minister, the emphasis is on adopting a multi-dimensional seven-point' strategy, which includes:

  1. Emphasis on irrigation along with end to end solution on creation of resources for ‘More crop per drop'
  2. 'Provision of quality seeds and nutrients according to the soil quality of each farm.
  3. Large investments in warehouses and cold chains to prevent Post-harvest losses.
  4. Promotion of value addition through food processing.
  5. Implementation of National Agricultural Markets and e-platforms (e-NAM) to eliminate shortcomings of all the 585 centers.
  6. To mitigate the risk, introduction of crop insurance scheme at a lower cost.
  7. Promotion of allied activities such as Dairy-Animal husbandry, Poultry, Bee-keeping, Horticulture, and Fisheries.
The Agriculture Minister stated that in a huge country like India with wide economic disparities, it is a challenge to ensure the physical and economic access to the basic good to far-flung remote areas. But during 2014-15, the government's favorable policies, effective plans, and implementations have yielded satisfactory results. He further said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the government has started developing 'Climate Smart Agriculture' through a national-level project under which farmers are being made aware and capable of adopting climate-friendly farming techniques.

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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh lighting the lamp at the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Devvrat, the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Panchayati Raj, Shri Parshottam Rupala and the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Smt. Krishna Raj are also seen.
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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh at the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Devvrat, the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar, the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Panchayati Raj, Shri Parshottam Rupala, the Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Smt. Krishna Raj & Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri S.K. Pattanayak are also seen.

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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressing the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Devvrat, the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Panchayati Raj, Shri Parshottam Rupala and the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri S.K. Pattanayak are also seen.

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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressing the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018.
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The Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr. Rajiv Kumar addressing the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018. The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Devvrat, the Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Panchayati Raj, Shri Parshottam Rupala and the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri S.K. Pattanayak are also seen.

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The Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Amarjeet Sinha addressing at the inauguration of a Two-Day Workshop on Best Practices in DAY-National Rural Livelihood Mission, organised by the Ministry of Rural Development, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018.
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The Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Amarjeet Sinha addressing at the inauguration of a Two-Day Workshop on Best Practices in DAY-National Rural Livelihood Mission, organised by the Ministry of Rural Development, in New Delhi on February 19, 2018.

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Prime Minister's Office
20-February, 2018 20:13 IST
PM addresses National Conference on “Agriculture-2022: Doubling Farmers' Incomes”

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today attended the National Conference on the theme “Agriculture-2022: Doubling Farmers' Incomes" organised at NASC Complex, Pusa, Delhi.

Seven thematic groups made presentations on the following subjects:

  • Policy and Governance Reforms
  • Agriculture Trade Policy and Export Promotion; Market Structure and Marketing Efficiency
  • Value Chain and Supply Chain Management
  • Science and Technology and Start-ups in Agriculture
  • Sustainable and Equitable Development and Efficient Delivery of Services
  • Capital Investment and Institutional Credit for farmers
  • Promotion of Livestock, Dairy, Poultry and Fisheries as Engines of Growth


The Prime Minister appreciated the presentations. He also complimented the farmers of India, especially for the big jump in production of pulses.

He said the Government is taking a series of coordinated steps to improve the income of farmers. In this regard, he mentioned four aspects: reducing input costs; ensuring a fair price for the produce; reducing wastage; and creating alternate sources of income.

The Prime Minister said that 100 per cent neem coating of urea has led to an increased efficiency of the urea itself, while also increasing productivity. He said that a study indicates that the use of soil health cards has led to a reduction in the use of chemical fertilisers, while increasing production.

Shri Narendra Modi said that the Union Government is working towards completing 99 incomplete irrigation projects. He added that 50 of these are likely to be completed this year. With each completed irrigation project, he added, the input cost of farmers would come down. He said 20 lakh hectares of farmland has so far been brought under micro irrigation, through the Pradhan MantriKrishiSinchaiYojana.

The Prime Minister said that ‘Operation Greens’ announced in the budget this year, would benefit farmers growing Tomato, Onion and Potato. He said 22,000 GrameenHaats would be upgraded with appropriate infrastructure, and integrated with the e-NAM platform. The farmers will have a facility within 5 to 15 kilometres of his land, to connect him with markets.

The Prime Minister said that the amount sanctioned for agriculture credit has been enhanced, to ensure easy availability of credit to farmers.

He said several initiatives are being undertaken to convert agriculture waste to wealth.


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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi arrives to attend the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 20, 2018. The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh is also seen.
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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi being welcomed by the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, at the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 20, 2018.


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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 20, 2018.

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The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the National Conference “Agriculture 2022- Doubling Farmers’ Income”, in New Delhi on February 20, 2018.

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Prime Minister's Office
21-February, 2018 13:46 IST
Text of PM’s to address at National Conference on 'Agriculture 2022: Doubling Farmers' Income' (20.02.2018)

देशभर से आए वैज्ञानिकगण, किसान बंधु और यहां उपस्थिति सभी महानुभाव। हम सभी बहुत ही महत्‍वपूर्ण, अति गंभीर और बहुत ही आवश्‍यक विषय पर मंथन के लिए यहां एकत्र हुए हैं।

मैंने अभी आप लोगों के presentation देखे, आपके विचार सुने। मैं आपको इस परिश्रम के लिए, इस मंथन के लिए बहुत-बहुत बधाई देता हूं। सच है, कृषि एक ऐसा विषय है जिसने हजारों वर्षों पहले से हमारी सभ्‍यता को गढ़ा है, उसे बचाया है, उसे सशक्‍त किया है। हमारे शास्‍त्रों में लिखा है कि-

कृषि धन्‍या, कृषि मेध्या

जन्‍तोनाव, जीवनाम कृषि

यानी कृषि संपत्ति और मेधा प्रदान करती है और कृषि ही मानव जीवन का आधार है। इसलिए जो विषय इतना पुराना है, जिस विषय पर भारतीय संस्‍कृति और भारतीय पद्धतियों ने पूरे विश्‍व को दिशा दिखाई है, खेती की तमाम तकनीकों, उसका परिचय करवाया है- उस विषय पर जब हम बात करे हैं तो इतिहास, वर्तमान और भविष्‍य, तीनों का ध्‍यान रखना आवश्‍यक है।

इतिहास में ऐसे वर्णन मिलते हैं जब विदेश से आए हुए लोग भारत की कृषि पद्धतियों को देखकर हैरान रह गए। इतनी उन्‍नत व्‍यवस्‍था, इतनी उन्‍नत तकनीक, वैज्ञानिक पद्धति पर आधारित हमारी कृषि ने पूरे विश्‍व को बहुत कुछ सिखाया है। हमारे यहां घाघ और और भटरी जैसे किसान कभी भी, वे जिन्‍होंने खेती पर मौसम को लेकर बहुत सटीक कविताएं लिखी हैं। लेकिन गुलामी के लंबे कालखंड में ये सारा अनुभव, कृषि को लेकर हमारी बनाई हुई सारी व्‍यवस्‍थाएं ध्‍वस्‍त हो गईं।

स्‍वतंत्रता के बाद हमारे देश के किसान ने अपना खून-पसीना बहाकर खेती को फिर से संभाला। आजादी के बाद दाने-दाने को तरस रहे हमारे किसान ने खाद्यान्‍न के मामले में आत्‍मनिर्भर बना दिया है। पिछले वर्ष तो हमारे किसानों ने परिश्रम से खाद्यान्‍न और फल-सब्जियों का उतना किया जितना पहले कभी नहीं हुआ। ये हमारे देश के किसानों का सामर्थ्‍य है कि सिर्फ एक साल में देश में दाल का उत्‍पादन लगभग 17 मिलियन टन से बढ़कर लगभग 23 मिलियन टन हो गया है।

स्‍वतंत्रता के बाद की इस यात्रा में एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर का विस्‍तार तो हुआ, लेकिन किसान का अपना व्‍यक्तिगत विकास और सिकु़ड़ता चला गया। खेती से आमदनी दूसरे सेक्‍टरों की तुलना में कम हुई, तो आने वाली पीढ़ियों ने खेत में हल चलाना छोड़कर शहर में छोटी-मोटी नौकरी करना ज्‍यादा बेहतर समझा। समय ऐसा आया कि देश को food security देने वाले किसान कि अपनी income security खतरे में पड़ गई। ये स्थितियां आपको पता हैं, बल्कि संभवत: मुझसे भी कहीं ज्‍यादा पता हैं। लेकिन मैं फिर भी स्थिति के बारे में आपसे बात कर रहा हूं क्‍योंकि जब भी हम पुरानी परिस्थितियों का analyze करते हैं, तभी नए रास्‍ते निकलते हैं, तभी नई एप्रोच के साथ काम करने का तरीका सूझता है। तभी पता चलता है कि क्‍या कुछ पहले हुआ जो अपेक्षित परिणाम नहीं दे पाया, जिसे भविष्‍य में सुधारने की, सुधारे जाने की आवश्‍यकता है। यही analyses आधार बने देश में किसानों की आय को दो गुना करने का लक्ष्‍य। एक ऐसा लक्ष्‍य जिसकी प्राप्ति पुराने एप्रोच के साथ संभव नहीं थी, एक ऐसा लक्ष्‍य जिसकी प्राप्ति के लिए पूरे एग्रीकलचर सेक्‍टर की over hauling की आवश्‍यकता थी।

जब इस लक्ष्‍य को सामने रखकर छोटी-छोटी समस्‍याओं को सुलझाना शुरू किया तो धीरे-धीरे इसका विस्‍तार एक बड़े कृषि आंदोलन में बदलता हुआ देखा जा रहा है।

साथियो, हम सभी ने खेतों में देखा है कि कई बार जब बैल को लंबी रस्‍सी से खूंटे में बांध दिया जाता है तो वो गोल-गोल घूमता रहता है। वो सोचता है कि वो चले जा रहा है, लेकिन सच्‍चाई यही है कि उसने खुद अपना दायरा बांध लिया होता है और वो खुद उसी में दौड़ता रहता है। भारतीय कृषि को भी इसी तरह के बंधनों से मुक्ति दिलाने की एक बहुत बड़ी जिम्‍मेवारी हम सब पर है।

किसान की उन्‍नति हो, किसान की आमदनी बड़े- इसके लिए बीज से बाजार तक फैसले लिए जा रहे हैं। उत्‍पादन में आत्‍मनिर्भरता के इस दौर में पूरे Eco-system किसानों के लिए हितकारी बनाने का काम किया जा रहा है। किसानों की आय बढ़ाने के विषय पर बनी Inter-ministerial committee, नीति आयोग आप जैसे अनेक वैज्ञानिकों, किसानों और एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर केस्‍टेक होल्‍डरों के साथ गहन मंथन करके सरकार ने एक दिशा तय की है और उस रास्‍ते पर बढ़ रहे हैं।

इस बजट में किसानों को उनकी फसलों की उचित कीमत दिलाने के लिए एक बड़े फैसले का ऐलान किया है। और हमारे पाशा पटेल ने उत्‍साह के साथ उसका वर्णन भी किया है। इसके अंतर्गत किसानों को उनकी फसलो का कम से कम यानी लागत के ऊपर 50 प्रतिशत यानी डेढ़ गुना मूल्‍य सुनिश्चित किया जाएगा। सरकार न्‍यूनतम समर्थन मूल्य के एलान का पूरा लाभकिसानों को मिले, इसके लिए राज्‍य सरकारों के साथ मिलकर काम कर रही है।

पुरानी जो कमियां हैं उसको दूर करना है। fool proof व्‍यवस्‍था को विकसित करना है। भाइयों और बहनों किसानों की आय बढ़ाने के लिए सरकार ने चार अलग-अलग स्‍तरों पर फोकस किया है।

पहला-ऐसे कौन-कौन से कदम उठाए जाएं जिनसे खेती पर होने वाला उनका खर्च कम हो।

दूसरा, ऐसे कौन से कदम उठाए जाएं जिससे उन्‍हें अपनी पैदावार की उचित कीमत मिले।

तीसरा- खेत से लेकर बाजार तक पहुंचने के बीच फसलों, फलों, सब्जियों की जो बर्बादी होती है, उसे कैसे रोका जाए।

और चौथा, ऐसा क्‍या कुछ हो जिससे किसानों की अतिरिक्‍त आय की हम व्‍यवस्‍था कर सकें। हमारी सरकार ने सारे नीतिगत फैसले, सारे तकनीकी फैसले, सारे कानूनी फैसले इन्‍हीं चार स्‍तरों पर आधारित रखे हैं। ज्‍यादा से ज्‍यादा तकनीक को अपने फैसलों से जोड़ा और इसी का परिणाम है सकारात्‍मक नतीजे मिलने लगे हैं।

जैसे अगर यूरिया की नीम कोटिंग की बात की जाए तो उस एक फैसले ने किसानों का खर्च काफी कम किया है। यूरिया की 100 प्रतिशत नीम कोटिंग की वजह से यूरिया की efficiency बढ़ी है और ये सामने आ रहा है कि अब उतनी ही जमीन के लिए किसान को कम यूरिया डालना पड़ता है। कम यूरिया डालने की वजह से पैसे की बचत और ज्‍यादा पैदावार की वजह से अधिक कमाई। ये बदलाव यूरिया की नीम कोटिंग से आ रहा है।

भाइयों और बहनों अब तक देश में 11 करोड़ से ज्‍यादा किसानों को Soil Health Card दिया जा चुका है। soil health card की वजह से अनाज की पैदावार बढ़ी है। किसानों को अब पहले से पता होता है कि मिट्टी में किस चीज की कमी है, किस तरह की खाद की आवश्‍यकता है। देश के 19 राज्‍यों में हुई एक स्‍टडी में सामने आया है कि soil health card के आधार पर खेती करने की वजह से केमिकल फर्टिलाइजर के इस्‍तेमाल में 8 से 10 प्रतिशत की कमी आई और उत्‍पादन में 5 से 6 प्रतिशत की बढ़ोत्‍तरी हुई है।

लेकिन साथियो, Soil Health Card का पूरा फायदा तभी मिल पाएगा जब हर किसान इस कार्ड से मिलने वाले लाभ को समझ कर उसके हिसाब से अपनी खेती करे। ये तब संभव है जब इसका पूरा eco-system डेवलप हो जाए। मैं चाहूंगा कि Soil Health Testing और उसके नतीजों के आधार पर किसान को फसल और Package of Productsकी ट्रेनिंग के module को हमारी एग्रीकल्‍चर यूनिवर्सिटी में BSC Agriculture के कोर्स में जोड़ा जाए। इस मोड्यूल को skill development से भी जोड़ा जा सकता है।

जो छात्र ये कोर्स पास करेंगे, उन्‍हें एक विशेष सर्टिफिकेट देने पर भी विचार किया जा सकता है। इस सर्टिफिकेट के आधार पर छात्र अपनी Soil Health Testing Lab गांव के अंदर खोल सकता है। उन्‍हें मुद्रा योजना के तहत लोन मिल सके, इस तरह की व्‍यवस्‍था के बारे में भी सोचा जाना चाहिए। भविष्‍य में जब सारी Labs, Central Databaseसे connect होंगी, soil health के आंकड़े central portal पर उपलब्‍ध होंगे तो वैज्ञानिकों और किसान, दोनों को बहुत आसानी होगी। Soil Health Card के इस central pool से जानकारी लेकर हमारे कृषि वैज्ञानिक मिट्टी की सेहत, पानी की उपलब्‍धता और जलवायु के बारे में किसानों को उचित जानकारी दे सकें, इस तरह का सिस्‍टम विकसित किया जाना चाहिए।

साथियों हमारी सरकार ने देश की एग्रीकल्‍चर पॉलिसी को एक नई दिशा देने का प्रयास किया है। योजनाओं के implementation का तरीका बदला है। इसका उदाहरण है प्रधानमंत्री कृषि सिंचाई योजना। इसके तहत दो अलग-अलग एरिया पर एक साथ काम किया जा रहा है। फोकस देश में micro irrigation का दायरा बढ़ाने और दूसरा existing irrigation network है, उसे मजबूत करना।

इसलिए सरकार ने तय किया कि दो-दो, तीन-तीन दशकों से अटकी हुई देश की 99 सिंचाई परियोजनाओं को तय समय में पूरा कर लिया जाए। इसके लिए 80 हजार करोड़ रुपये से अधिक का प्रावधान किया गया। ये सरकार के निरंतर प्रयास का ही असर है कि इस साल के अंत तक लगभग 50 योजनाएं पूरी हो जाएंगी और बाकी अगले साल तक पूरा करने का लक्ष्‍य है।

मतलब जो काम 25-30 साल से अटका हआ था, वो हम 25-30 महीने में पूरा करने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं। पूरी होती हर सिंचाई परियोजना देश के किसी न किसी हिस्‍से में किसान का खेती पर होने वाला खर्च कम कर रही है, पानी को लेकर उसकी चिंता कम कर रही है। प्रधानमंत्री कृषि सिंचाई योजना के तहत अब तक 20 लाख हेक्‍टेयर से ज्‍यादा जमीन को भी micro irrigation के दायरे में लाया जा चुका है।

एग्रीकल्चर सेक्‍टर में इंश्‍योरेंस की क्‍या हालत थी, इससे भी आप भली-भांति परिचित हैं। किसान अपनी फसल बीमा कराने ज्‍यादा था तो उसे ज्‍यादा प्रीमियम देना पड़ता था। फसल बीमा का दायरा भी बहुत छोटा सा था। प्रधानमंत्री फसल बीमा योजना के तहत हमारी सरकार ने न सिर्फ प्रीमीयम कम किया बल्कि इंश्‍योरेंस का दायरा भी हमने बढ़ाया।

साथियों मुझे बताया गया है कि पिछले वर्ष इस योजना के तहत 11 हजार करोड़ रुपये की क्‍लेम राशि किसानों को दे दी गई है। अगर प्रति किसान या प्रति हेक्‍टेयर दी गई क्‍लेम राशि को देखा जाए तो ये पहले के मुकाबले दोगुनी हुई है। ये योजना कितने किसानों का जीवन बचा रही है, कितने परिवारों को बचा रही है, ये कभी हेडलाइन नहीं बनेगी, कोई ध्‍यान नहीं देगा। इसलिए हम सभी का कर्तव्‍य है कि ज्‍यादा से ज्‍यादा किसानों को इस योजना से हम जोड़ें।

सरकार अब इस लक्ष्‍य के साथ काम कर रही है कि वर्ष 2018-19 में कम से कम 50 प्रतिशत बोई गई फसल इस योजना के दायरे में हो। भाइयो और बहनों हमारी सरकार देश के एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर में एक market architecture विकसित कर रही है। किसानों को और ज्‍यादा भला तभी होगा जबCooperative Federalism की भावना पर चलते हुए केंद्र और राज्‍य सरकार मिल करके फैसले ले।

अब इसलिए किसान हित से जुड़े हुए modern act बनाकरराज्‍य सरकारों से उन्‍हें लागू करने का आग्रह किया गया है। एग्रीकल्‍चर प्रोड्यूस और लाइवस्‍टॉक मार्केटिंग से जुड़ा हुआ एक land lease act हो, warehousing guidelines का सरलीकरण हो, ऐसे कितने ही कानूनी फैसलों के माध्‍यम से हमारी सरकार किसानों को सशक्‍त करने का काम कर रही है।

2022 तक किसानों की आय बढ़ाने के लिए केंद्र और राज्‍य को मिलकर काम करना ही होगा। खेत से निकल करके बाजार तक पहुंचने से पहले किसानों की उपज बर्बाद न हो, इसके लिए प्रधानमंत्री किसान सम्‍पदा योजना के तहत काम किया जा रहा है। विशेष ध्‍यान agriculture sector को मजबूत करने पर है। Dry storage, cold storage, वेयर हाउसिंग के माध्‍यम से पूरी सप्‍लाई चेन को reform किया जा रहा है।

इस बजट में जिस operation green का ऐलान किया है वो भी सप्‍लाई चेन व्‍यवस्‍था से जुड़ा है। ये फल और सब्जियां पैदा करने वाले किसानों के लिए बहुत उपयोगी साबित होगा। जैसे देश में दूध के क्षेत्र में Amul मॉडल बहुत कामयाब रहा, लाखों किसानों की आय बढ़ाने वाला रहा, वैसे ही Operation Green भी ‘टॉप’ यानी Tomato, Onion और Potato उगाने वाले किसानों के लिए लाभकारी रहेगा।

साथियोंrule और returns markets या गांव की स्‍थानीय मंडियों का wholesale market यानी APMC और फिर ग्‍लोबल मार्केट तक integration किया जाना, ये बहुत ही आवश्‍यक है।

मुझे बताया गया है कि अंग्रेजों के समय कमीशन बना था। उसने भी यही सिफारिश की थी कि किसानों के लिए हर 5-6 किलोमीटर पर एक मार्केट होना चाहिए। सौ वर्ष पहले जो चीज सोची गई थी, अब उसे लागू करने का सौभाग्‍य मुझे मिला है। इस बजट में ग्रामीण रिटेल एग्रीकल्‍चर मार्केट, यानी GRAM की अवधारणा इसी का परिणाम है। इसके तहत देश के 22 हजार ग्रामीण हाटों को जरूरी infrastructure के साथ upgrade किया जाएगा और फिर उन्‍हें APMC के साथ integrated कर दिया जाएगा। यानी एक तरह से अपने खेत के 5-10-15 किलोमीटर के दायरे में किसान के पास ऐसी व्‍यवस्‍था होगी जो उसे देश के किसी भी मार्केट से connect कर सकेगी। किसान इन ग्रामीण हाटों पर ही अपनी उपज सीधे उपभोक्‍ताओं को बेच सकेगा।

आने वाले दिनों में ये केंद्र किसानों की आय बढ़ाने, रोजगार और कृषि आधारित ग्रामीण कृषि अर्थव्‍यवस्‍था के नए ऊर्जा केंद्र बनेंगे। इस स्थिति को और मजबूत करने के लिए सरकार farmer producer organization- FPO को बढ़ावा दे रही है। किसान अपने क्षेत्र में, अपने स्‍तर पर छोटे-छोटे संगठन बनाकर भी ग्रामीण हाटों और बड़ी मंडियों से जुड़ सकते हैं। इस तरह के संगठनों का सदस्‍य बनकर वो थोक में खरीद पाएंगे, थोक में बिक्री कर पाएंगे और इस तरह अपनी आमदनी भी बढ़ा पाएंगे।

इस बजट में सरकार ने ये भी ऐलान किया है कि farmer producer organization, कोऑपरेटिव सोसायटियों की तरह ही इन्‍कम टैक्‍स में छूट दी जाएगी। महिला सेल्‍फ हेल्‍प ग्रुपों को इन Farmer Producer Organization की मदद के साथ organic, aromatic और herbal खेती के साथ जोड़ने की योजना भी किसानों की आय बढ़ाने में एक महत्‍वपूर्ण कदम साबित होगी।

साथियो आज के समय की मांग है कि हम Green Revolution और White Revolution के साथ-साथ Water Revolution, Blue Revolution, Sweet Revolution और Organic Revolution को भी हमें उसके साथ integrate करना होगा, उसके साथ जोड़ना होगा। ये वो क्षेत्र हैं जो किसानों के लिए अतिरिक्‍त आय और आय के मुख्‍य स्रोत, दोनों ही हो सकते हैं। ऑर्गेनिक खेती, मधुमक्‍खी पालन, See weedकी खेती, Solar फार्म, ऐसे तमाम आधुनिक विकल्‍प भी हमारे किसानों के सामने हैं। आवश्‍यकता उन्‍हें ज्‍यादा से ज्‍यादा जागरूक करने की है।

मेरा आग्रह होगा कि इनके बारे में और विशेषकर परम्‍परागत और ऑर्गेनिक खेत के बारे में जानकारी देने के लिए एक digital platform शुरू किया जाए। इस digital platform के माध्‍यम से मार्केट डिमांड, बड़े कस्‍टमर, सप्‍लाई चेन के बारे में किसानों को ऑर्गेनिक फार्मिंग से जुड़ी जानकारी मुहैया कराई जा सकती है।

खेती के इन सब-सेक्‍टर्स में काम करने वाले किसानों को कर्ज मिलने में और आसानी हो, इसके लिए भी सरकार काम कर रही है। इस बजट में 10 हजार करोड़ रुपये की राशि से विशेषकर fisheries और animal husbandry को ध्‍यान में रखते हुए दो infrastructure fund गठित करने का ऐलान किया गया है। किसानों को अलग-अलग संस्‍थाओं और बैंकों से कर्ज मिलने में दिक्‍कत न हो, इसके लिए पिछले तीन वर्ष में कर्ज दी जाने वाली राशि साढ़े आठ लाख करोड़ रुपये से बढ़कर अब इस बजट में 11 लाख करोड़ रुपये कर दी गई है।

किसानों को कर्ज के लिए राशि उपलब्‍ध कराने के साथ ही सरकार ये भी सुनिश्चित कर रही है कि उन्‍हें समय पर लोन मिले और उचित राशि का लोन मिले। अक्‍सर देखा गया है कि छोटे किसानों को कोऑपरेटिव सोसायटियों से कर्ज लेने में दिक्‍कत आती है। इसलिए हमारी सरकार ने तय किया कि वो देश की सारी प्राइमरी एग्रीकल्‍चर कोऑपरेटिव सोसायटियों का कम्‍प्यूटरीकरण करेगी। अगले दो वर्ष में जब ऐसी 63,000 सोसायटियों का कम्‍प्‍यूटरीकरण पूरा होगा तो कर्ज देने की प्रक्रिया में और ज्‍यादा पारदर्शिता आएगी।

जन-धन योजना और किसान क्रेडिट कार्ड द्वारा भी किसान को कर्ज दिए जाने की राह आसान बनाई गई है। साथियों जब मुझे बताया गया कि दशकों पहले एक कानून में बांस को पेड़ कह दिया गया और इसलिए उसे बिना मंजूरी काटा नहीं जा सकता। बिना मंजूरी उसे कहीं ले नहीं जासकते। तो मैं हैरत में पड़ गया था। सभी को पता था कि बांस के construction sector में क्‍या वैल्‍यू है। फर्नीचर बनाने में, handicraft बनाने में, अगरबत्‍ती में, पतंग में यानी माचिस में भी बांस का इस्‍तेमाल होता है। लेकिन हमारे यहां बांस काटने की अनुमति लेने के लिए प्रक्रिया इतनी जटिल थी कि किसान अपनी जमीन पर बांस लगाने से बचता था। इस कानून को हमने अब बदल दिया है। इस फैसले से बांस भी किसानों की आय बढ़ाने में मददगार साबित होगा।

एक और बदलाव की ओर हम बढ़ रहे हैं और ये बदलाव है AgroSpecies से जुड़ा हुआ। साथियो हमारे देश में इमारती लकड़ी का जितना उत्‍पादन होता है, वो देश की आवश्‍यकता से बहुत कम है।Supply और demand का गैप इतना ज्‍यादा है और पेड़ों के संरक्षण को ध्‍यान में रखते हुए सरकार अब multipurpose tree species की plantation पर जोर दे रही है। आप सोचिए किसान को अपने खेत में ऐसे पेड़ लगाने की स्‍वतंत्रता हो जिसे वो 5 साल, 10 साल, 15 साल में अपनी आवश्‍यकता के अनुसार काट सकें, उसका transport कर सकें, तो उसकी आय में कितनी बढ़ोत्‍तरी होगी।

‘हर मेढ़ पर पेड़’ का concept किसानों की बहुत बड़ी जरूरत को पूरा करेगा और इससे देश के पर्यावरण को भी लाभ मिलेगा। मुझे खुशी है कि देश के 22 राज्‍य इस नियम से जुड़े बदलाव को अपने यहां लागू कर चुके हैं। एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर में solar energy का ज्‍यादा से ज्‍यादा इस्‍तेमाल भी किसानों की आय बढ़ाएगा। इसी को ध्‍यान में रखते हुए पिछले तीन साल में सरकार ने लगभग पौने तीन लाख सोलार पंप किसानों के लिए स्‍वीकृत किए हैं। इसके लिए लगभग ढाई हजार करोड़ रुपये की राशि स्‍वीकृत की गई है। इससे डीजल पर होने वाले उनके खर्च की भी काफी बचत हुई है।

अब सरकार किसानों को grid connected solar pump देने की दिशा में बढ़ रही है। ताकि जो ज्‍यादा बिजली बने वो किसान को आर्थिक रूपसे और मदद करे।

साथियो खेतों से जो बायप्रोडक्‍ट निकलता है, वो भी आय का बहुत बड़ा माध्‍यम है। पहले इस दिशा में भी बहुत नहीं सोचा गया लेकिन हमारी सरकार agriculture waste से wealth बनाने पर भी काम कर रही है। यहां मौजूदा अधिकांश लोग ऐसी ही एक बर्बादी से भलीभांति परिचित हैं। ये बर्बादी होती है। ये बर्बादी होती है केले के पेड़ की, केले की पत्तियां काम आ जाती हैं, फल बिक जाते हैं, लेकिन उसका जो तना होता है, वो किसानों के लिए समस्‍या बन जाता है। कई बार किसानों को हजारों रुपये इन तनों को काटने या हटाने में खर्च करने पड़ जाते हैं। इसके बाद इन तनों को कहीं सड़क के किनारे ऐसे फेंक दिया जाता है। जबकि यही तना industrial paper बनाने के काम में, फेबरिक बनाने में काम में इस्‍तेमाल किया जा सकता है।

देश के अलग-अलग हिस्‍सों में जब इस तरह की मुहिम जोर पकड़ रही है जो agriculture waste से wealth के लिए काम कर रही हैं।Coir waste हो, coconut shells हों, bamboo waste हो, फसल काटने के बाद खेत में बचा शेष हो, इन सभी की आमदनी बढ़ सकती है।

इस बजट में सरकार ने गोवर्धन योजना का एलान भी किया है। ये योजना ग्रामीण स्‍वच्‍छता बढ़ाने के साथ ही गांव में निकलने वाले बायोगैस से किसानों एवं पशुपालकों की आमदनी बढ़ाने में मदद करेगी। और भाइयो और बहनों, ऐसा भी नहीं है कि सिर्फ बायोप्रोडक्‍ट से ही wealth बन सकती है। जो मुख्‍य फसल है, main product है, कई बार उसका भी अलग इस्‍तेमाल किसानों की आमदनी बढ़ा सकता है। जैसे गन्‍ने से इथेनॉल का उत्‍पादन। हमारी सरकार ने इथेनॉल से जुड़ी पॉलिसी में बड़ा बदलाव करते हुए अब पेट्रोल में इथेनॉल की 10 प्रतिशत blending को स्‍वीकृति दे दी है। यानी चीनी से जुड़ी demand पूरी करने के बाद जो गन्‍ना बचेगा वो इथेनॉल उत्‍पादन में इस्‍तेमाल किया जा सकेगा। इससे गन्‍ना किसानों की स्थिति बेहतर हुई है।

देश में एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर किस तरह से ऑपरेट करता है, हमारी सरकार उस व्‍यवस्‍था को बदल रही है। एग्रीकल्‍चर सेक्‍टर में एक नए कल्‍चर की स्‍थापना की जा रही है। ये कल्‍चर हमारे सामर्थ्‍य, हमारे सुसाधन, हमारे सपनों को न्‍याय देने वाला होगा। यही कल्‍चर 2022 तक संकल्‍प से सिद्धि की हमारी यात्रा को पूरा करेगा। जब देश के गांवों का उदय होगा तभी भारत का भी उदय होगा। जब देश सशक्‍त होगा तो देश का किसान अपने-आप सशक्‍त हो जाएगा।

और इसलिए और आज जो मैंने presentation देखे हैं। ये हमारा पाशा पटेल को ये शिकायत थी कि उसको आठ ही मिनट मिली, मैं उसको घंटे देता रहता हूं। लेकिन जो विचार मैंने सुने हैं – ये सही है कि यहां कुछ ही समय में सारी बातें प्रस्‍तुत की गई हैं। लेकिन आपने जो मेहनत की है, इसके पूर्व जो आपने लोगों से संपर्क करके जानकारियां एकत्र की हैं, छोटे समूहों में यहां आने से पहले आपने उसका analysis किया है- एक प्रकार से काफी लोगों को जोड़ करके इसमें से कुछ न कुछ अमृत निकला है। आपकी मेहनत का एक पल भी बर्बाद नहीं होने दिया जाएगा। आपके सुझावों को भी इतनी ही गंभीरता से हर स्‍तर पर सरकार में जांचा-परखा जाएगा। हो सकता है कुछ तत्‍काल हो पाए, कुछ बाद में हो पाए लेकिन ये मेहनत करने के पीछे एक प्रामाणिक प्रयास रहा था कि जब तक हम सरकारी दायरे में सोचने के तरीके को बदलना है, किसान की मूलभूत बातों को समझना है तो जो लोग धरती से जुड़े हैं, उनसे हम जुड़ेंगे तो शायद व्‍यावहारिक चीजों को ले पाएंगे। और इसीलिए देशभर में ये प्रयास करके आप सब अनुभवी लोगों के साथ विचार-विमर्श का ये प्रयास किया है।

दूसरी बात है, मैं चाहूंगा कि इसको कैसे आगे बढ़ाएं। पहले तो भारत सरकार के सभी विभाग जो इससे संबंधित हैं, उसके सभी अधिकारी यहां मौजूद हैं, संबंधित कई मंत्री भी यहां मौजूद हैं। इन सारे सुझावों पर नीति आयोग के नेतृत्‍व में एक मंत्रालयों के बीच में coordination कैसे हो। इनके साथ विचार-विमर्श हो और actionable point कैसे निकाले जा सकते हैं, priority कैसे तय हो। संसाधनों के कारण कोई काम अटकता नहीं है ये मेरा विश्‍वास है।

दूसरा, जैसे हम सब मानते हैं कि हमने परम्‍परागत परम्‍पराओं से बाहर निकलना है। हमें टेक्‍नोलॉजी और विज्ञान को स्‍वीकार करना होगा और जिस विज्ञान ने बर्बादी लाई है, उस विज्ञान से मुक्ति लेनी पड़ेगी। किसी समय जरूरी होगा लेकिन अगर वो कालबाह्य हो गया है तो उसको पकड़ करके चलने की जरूरत नहीं है, उसमे से बाहर आने की जरूरत है। लेकिन इसके लिए अलग से efforts करने होंगे। मैं चाहूंगा जैसे startups का विषय आया है, ऐसी चीजों पर हमारी agriculture universities, उनमें इसी विषय पर फोकस करके कोई काम हो सकता है क्‍या? इसी प्रकार से यहां जितने subjects आए हैं, क्‍या?Agriculturestudents के लिए हम Hackathon जैसे कार्यक्रम कर सकते हैं क्‍या?

और वे बैठ करके- पिछले दिनों मैंने गर्वमेंट की कोई 400 समस्‍याओं को ले करके, हमारे देश के इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेज के स्‍टूडेंट्स आए, जिनके लिए हैकेथॉन का कार्यक्रम किया था। और 50-60 हजार स्‍टूडेंट्स ने ये विषय लिया और nonstop 36-36 घंटे बैठ करके उन्‍होंने इस बात को चर्चा- विमर्श की और सरकार को सुझाव दिए। उसमें से कई departments की समस्‍याओं का समाधान, जो सरकार में सालों से नहीं होता था, इन हमारे नौजवानों ने टेक्‍नोलॉजी के माध्‍यम से process perfect करने में काम किया।

मैं चाहूंगा कि हमारी agriculture universitiesHackathonकरें। उसी प्रकार से हमारी IITs हों या III ITs हों या हमारे leading engineering collage हों, वे क्‍या एक सप्‍ताह या एक दस दिन, आजकल हर कॉलेज robotic के लिए सप्‍ताह मनाती है, दो सप्‍ताह मनाती है; अच्‍छी बात है। Nano technology के लिए week मनाते हैं, प्रयोग होते हैं, अच्‍छी चीज है। क्‍या हम हमारी आईआईटी, हमारी III IT या हमारे लीडिंग इंजीनियरिंग कॉलेज देशभर में thematic group में उनको Agri-Tech के संबंध में दस दिन काएक पूरा उत्‍सव मनाएं। सारे technology brain मिल करके भारत की आवश्‍यकता के अनुसार एक विचार-विमर्श करें और उसमें competition का हम प्रयास कर सकते हैंक्‍या?

अब फिर उनको आगे ले जाएं। उसी प्रकार से जो विषय मैंने मेरे भाषण में भी कहा कि हम soil health card, अब आज देखिए हम ब्‍लड टेस्‍ट करवाने के लिए laboratory में जाते हैं, pathology laboratory में। आज pathology laboratory अपने-आप में एक बड़ा व्‍यापक बिजनेस बन गया है।प्राइवेट pathology laboratory होती है। क्‍यों न गांव-गांव हमारी soil test की लैब हो, ये संभव है? उसके लिए सर्टिफिकेट की रचना हो हमारी यूनिवर्सिटीज में, और उन लोगों के लिए मुद्रा योजना से पैसा मिले।उनको technology equipment उपलब्‍ध कराए जाएं। तो हर किसान को लगेगा भई, चलो भई खेती में जाने से पहले हम कम्‍पलीट हमारा soil test करवा लें और हम उसका रिपोर्ट लें, हम guidance लें। हम ये व्‍यवस्‍थाओं को विकसित कर सकते हैं और इससे देश में अगर हम गांव-गांव soil testing lab को बल देते हैं, लाखों ऐसे नौजवानों को रोजगार मिल सकता है और वो ये केंद्र एक प्रकार से गांव की किसानी activity में एक scientific temperament के लिए बहुत बड़ा कैटरिक agent बन सकता है। उस दिशा में हम काम करें।

पानी के संबंध में भी जैसे soil test की जरूरत है, पानी के टेस्‍ट भी हम उसी लैब में धीरे-धीरे develop करना चाहिए, क्‍योंकि किसान को इतनी तरह, उसको तरीका क्‍या है? वो बीज जहां से लाता है, जिंदगी भर उसी दुकान से बीज लाता है। उसको पता ही नहीं है, वो कहता है मैं पिछली बार कपड़े वाले पैकेट में ले गया था बीज, इस बार मुझे कपड़े वाला ही चाहिए, पॉलिथिन वाला नहीं चाहिए। इतना ही वो सोचता है और ले जाता है।

उसको गाइड करने के लिए आज digitally animation के द्वारा उसको समझाया जा सकता है, जो उसके मोबाइल में आएगा। अगर उसको बीज खरीदने जाना है तो उसको बता दो इन छह चीजों का ध्‍यान रखो फिर ये लो। तो वो सोचेगा, पूछेगा, दस सवाल पूछना शुरू करेगा।

हम communication में, वहां गुजरात में, सारे हिन्‍दुस्‍तान में आज जितनी जनसंख्‍या है उससे ज्‍यादा मोबाइल फोन हैं।Digitally connectivity है। हम animation के द्वारा किसान तक इन बातों को कैसे पहुंचा सकें, इन सारे विषयों को अगर हम ले जा सकते हैं; मैं जरूर मानता हूं कि हम बहुत बड़ा बदलाव इससे ला सकते हैं। तो हम इन्‍हीं चीजों को ले करके और जितने भी सुझाव...अब जैसे animal husbandry को लेकर विषय आया। अब जैसे हमारे यहां इन सारे विषयों में कोई कानून नहीं है, जैसे बताया गया।

मैं जरूर चाहूंगा कि department इसको देखे कि इस प्रकार के कानून की रचना हो ताकि इन चीजों को बल भी मिले और जो बुराइयां है उन बुराइयों से मुक्ति भी मिले, और एक standardized व्‍यवस्‍था विकसित हो। तो जितने सुझाव आए, और मेरे लिए भी बड़ा educating था, मुझे बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला। इन विषयों में मेरी जानने की रुचि भी रही है। लेकिन आज बहुत-एक बातें नई भी मेरे लिए थीं। आपके लिए भी उपयोगी होंगी। Even हमारे department के लोगों के लिए भी होंगी। और जरूर मैं समझता हूं कि मंथन उपकारक होगा।

क्‍या कभी ये जो हमारे presentation हमने तैयार किए और जो हमारे actually field में काम करने वाले किसान हैं या जिनकी इस विषय में expertise है, राज्‍यों में जा करके, राज्‍यों से जुड़े हुए किसानों से मिल करके वैसा ही दो दिन का एक event हम वहां भी कर सकते हैं क्‍या? और वहां भी इसी की लाइन पर इसी के लाइन पर वो एक्‍सरसाइज करें। क्‍योंकि एक प्रयोग एक राज्‍य में चलता है, वही प्रयोग हमारा देश इतना बड़ा है- दूसरे राज्‍य में नहीं चलता है। एक मान्‍यता किसान के दिमाग में घर कर गई है, दूसरे राज्‍य में उसी विषय परदूसरी मान्‍यता घर कर गई है।

और इसीलिए हम agro climatic zone के हिसाब से कहें या state wise कहें, जो भी हमें ठीक लगे; हम उस दिशा में अगर एक, इसको एक स्‍टेप आगे बढ़ाएं तो मैं समझता हूं उपयोगी होगा। तीसरा, इन सारे विषयों के ऊपर सभी universities debate कर सकती हैं क्‍या? At least final year या last butone year, वहां के स्‍टूडेंट्स मिल करके जब तक हम meeting of mind नहीं करते हैं, जो चिंतन-चर्चा हम करते हैं, वो नीचे तक हम उसी रूप में delusionऔर diversion के बिना उसको नीचे नहीं ले जाते हैं, तब तक उसका परिणाम नहीं मिलता है।

और इसलिए इसी चीज को आगे बढ़ाने का एक roadmap, जिसमें universities हों, जिसमें students हों, और जिसमें expertise हो। हो सकता है सारे विषय कुछ ऐसे स्‍थान पर उपयोगी नहीं होंगे कि जहां पर जरूरत नहीं है। लेकिन जहां जरूरत है वहां कैसे हो?

यहां एक बात विस्‍तार से हम लोग नहीं कर पाए हैं और वो है value addition की। मैं समझता हूं कभी न कभी हमारे किसानों को value additionके, मेरा अपना अनुभव है। गुजरात में हमने जब ज्‍योति ग्राम योजना की थी, 24 घंटे बिजली। हमारे देश में एक वो revolutionary घटना मानी जाएगी कि 24 घंटे बिजली मिलना। तो हमने जब बिजली का launching करते थे तो गांव वालों को इस बिजली का उपयोग क्‍या है, सिर्फ टीवी देखना है क्‍या? क्‍या रात को उजाला हो, इतना ही है? और उसमें से उनको जिंदगी में बदलाव लाने के लिए क्‍या करना चाहिए, वो समझाने के लिए एक बहुत बड़ा इवेंट भी उसके साथ ऑर्गेनाइज करते थे।

गांधीनगर के पास एक गांव है। वो मिर्ची की खेती करता था। अब हमारे देश का ये मुसीबत है जब मिर्ची करेंगे तो सारे किसान मिर्ची कर देंगे, तो दाम गिर जाता है। तो उस पूरे गांव की सारी मिर्ची बेचें तो पूरे गांव को तीन लाख रुपये से ज्‍यादा इन्‍कम होती नहीं थी, संभव ही नहीं थी। गांव वालों ने क्‍या किया- उन्‍होंने कहा कि भई अब तो 24 घंटे बिजली मिलने वाली है, हम एक छोटी सी सोयायटी बना लें, हम आगे बढ़ते हैं। और तत्‍काल उन्‍होंने छोटी से सोयायटी बनाई और तत्‍काल बिजली का कनेक्‍शन लिया। उन्‍होंने मिर्ची को लाल बनने तक उसकी सारी प्रोसेस की, फिर लाल मिर्ची का पावडर बनाने के लिए processors ले आए, उसका पेकेजिंग किया। जो मिर्ची उनकी तीन लाख में जाने वाली थी, गांव का किसान मरने वाला था। तीन-चार महीने का प्‍लानिंग किया, उतनी जो कमी रह गई-रह गई, लेकिन तीन-चार महीने के बाद वो ही मिर्ची 18 लाख रुपये की इन्‍कम करके ले आई।

कहने का मेरा तात्‍पर्य है कि value addition के संबंध में भी हम किसानों को सहज रूप से बताएं। ये बात सही है कि दुनिया में जिस तेजी से, यहां export-import की बात हुई है, बहुत बड़ी बात है कि अब कोई तय करेगा कि कितना shortage रूप से आप लाए हो।

अब भारत जैसा विशाल देश, वो एक कोने में पैदावार हुई हो, पोर्ट तक जा करके लाएगा तो इतना transportation हुआ होगा। और फिर भी वो इसलिए reject हो जाएगा। आपको मालूम होगा दुनिया में ऐसी-ऐसी चीजें चलती हैं कि भारत की अगर दरी बढ़िया बिकती है तो कोई एक पूंछ लगा देगा ये तो child labor से हुई हैं, बस खत्‍म, दुनिया में व्‍यापार खत्‍म। तो ऐसी-ऐसी चीजें आती हैं तो हमने कागजी कार्रवाई परफेक्‍ट करनी होगी। हमारे किसानों को समझाना होगा और इन दिनों- इन दिनों मुझे दुनिया के कई देशों से इस बात के लिए लड़ना पड़ रहा है, उनसे जूझना पड़ रहा है कि आपका ये नियम और हमारा किसान जो पैदा करता है वो दोनों चीजें आप गलत interruption कर रहे हैं। interruption गलत कर रहे हैं। उनके आधार गलत हैं।

और उसी के कारण, अब आपको मालूम है हमारा mango, हमारा mango दुनिया में जाए, इसके लिए हमें इतनी मशक्‍कत करनी पड़ी। लेकिन हमारे किसानों को भी समझाना पड़ेगा, दुनिया में लॉबी अपना काम करती होगी, लेकिन हम, हमारी जो प्रोसेस सिस्‍टम है पूरी, उसको हमें globally में standardize करना पड़ेगा।

और इसलिए मैंने एक बार लाल किले से कहा था- हमारा उत्‍पादन zero defect-zero effect.क्‍योंकि दुनिया के main standard बनने वाले हैं। हमने हमारे एग्रीकल्‍चर प्रोडक्‍ट को और प्रोडक्‍ट एंड पैकेजिंग। अब हम organic farming के लिए कहें, लेकिन organic farming के लिए satisfy करने के लिए अगर लैब और इंस्‍टीट्यूट खड़ा नहीं करेंगे तो दुनिया में हमारा ऑर्गेनिक प्रोडक्‍ट जाएगा नहीं।

अब आज देखिए aromaticआज दुनिया में aromatic का बिजनेस ग्रोथ 40 percent मुझे बताया गया है। अगर 40 percent ग्रोथ है, उसका पूरा आधार एग्रीकल्‍चरल है। अगर एग्रीकल्‍चर उसका आधार है तो हम aromatic वर्ल्‍ड के अंदर भारत जैसे देश में छोटे-छोटे लोगों को इतना रोजगार मिल सकता है कि हम aromatic वर्ल्‍ड के अंदर अपनी बहुत सारी चीजें हम जोड़ सकते हैं।

और इसलिए मैं मानता हूं कि fragrance की दुनिया में और भारत विविधताओं से भरा हुआ है। हम fragrance की दुनिया में बहुत कुछ अपना contribute कर सकते हैं। और हम natural चीजें दे सकते हैं। तो हम विश्‍व के मार्केट को ध्‍यान में रखते हुए, हम भारत के किसानों को कैसे- मैं अभी इन दिनों gulf countries के लोगों से बात कर रहा हूं। मैं उनसे कह रहा हूं कि आपको किस क्‍वालिटी की चीजें खानी हैं, आप हमें suggestion दें। उस क्‍वालिटी की चीजें बनाने के लिए हम हमारे किसान तक टेक्‍नोलॉजी, प्रोसेस, सारा ले जाएंगे। लेकिन प्रोडक्‍ट आप उसके खेत से ही खरीदिए और आप ही अपने कोल्‍ड स्‍टोरेज बनाइए, अपने various warehousing बनाइए, आप ही अपनी transportation system खड़ी कीजिए, और पूरे गल्‍फ का पेट भरने का काम मेरे देश के किसान कर सकते हैं।

ये सारी बातें मेरी इन दिनों दुनियाभर के लोगों के साथ हो रही हैं, लेकिन मैं आपसे यही कहना चाहूंगा कि ये जो मेहनत आपने की है, इसका बहुत बड़ा लाभ मिलेगा। और मुझे- मैं जानता नहीं हूं पहले क्‍या होता था, लेकिन मैंने अफसरों को पूछा क्‍योंकि उनको काफी जानकारी होती है, क्‍योंकि पहले वो ही करते थे, अब भी वो ही कर रहे हैं। तो वो मुझे कह रहे थे कि साहब ऐसा पहले कभी हुआ नहीं है। ये पहली बार हुआ है कि जिसमें accommodations हैं, agro-economics वाले हैं, scientists हैं, agriculturist हैं, progressive agriculturist हैं, policy makers हैं, सबने मिल करके मंथन किया है और मंथन करने से पहले बहुत input ले करके किया है।

और मैं समझता हूं कि एक अच्‍छी दिशा में प्रयास है। और आप निराश मत होना कि मैं तो कहके आया था क्‍यों नहीं हुआ। हो सकता है कोई चीज लागू होने में टाइम लगता हो। इतनी बड़ी सरकार है, स्‍कूटर को मोड़ना है तो तुरंत मुड़ जाएगा, लेकिन एक बहुत बड़़ी ट्रेन मोड़नी है तो कहां से जाकर मोड़ना पड़ता है। तो कहां-कहां चले गए हैं, वहां से मुझे मोड़ करे लाना है, लेकिन आप लोगों के साथ मिल करके लाना है। और पूरे विश्‍वास से कहता हूं कि हम लाके रहेंगे। भारतीय किसान की आय को बढ़ाने के लिए हम मिल करके काम करें और इस संकल्‍प को पूरा करना है कि 2022हिन्‍दुस्‍तान के किसान की आय दोगुना करनी है। वो एग्रो प्रोडक्‍ट से हो, animal husbandry से हो, वो sweet revolution से हो, वो blue revolution से हो। जितने भी रास्‍ते किसानी से जुड़े हुए हैं, उन सभी रास्‍तों से हो करते हुए करें। इसी एक अपेक्षा के साथ आप सबके योगदान के लिए मैं आपका बहुत-बहुत आभारी हूं।

धन्‍यवाद।

अतुल तिवारी/ हिमांशु सिंह/ निर्मल शर्मा

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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
21-February, 2018 15:09 IST
Union Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh launches six new user friendly features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform

e-NAM integrates Central Farmer Database to increase the efficiency and reduce queue time

The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today launched six new features of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) Platform to make it more users friendly.Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Agriculture was also present at the event. e-NAM is one of the major and important flagship schemes of the Government of India which is being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare with the objective of providing competitive and remunerative price to farmers for their produce through online competitive bidding process.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Singh said that it is the dream of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri NarendraModi to double farmers’ income by 2022 and that farmers should become part of mainstream development. He said that the objective was to bring more transparency and competition and provide remunerative prices to farmers. Keeping in view the need of making marketing of commodities easier for farmers, e-NAM was envisioned and launched in 21 Mandis on 14th April 2016 which has now reached 479 Mandis across 14 states and 1 Union Territory. e-NAM website is now available in eight different languages (Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Odia) while the live trading facility is available in six different language (Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi & Telugu).

The Minister said that the agriculture ministry is now strengthening e-NAM platform with new and user-friendly features by rolling out MIS Dashboard for better analysis, BHIM payment facility by traders, mobile payment facility by traders, enhanced features on Mobile App such as gate entry and payment through mobile, integration of farmer’s database, eLearning module in e-NAM website etc.

  1. e-NAM Mobile App:
Mobile app is being enhanced in multi-dimension so that the entire operation for farmers and traders can be user friendly. Mobile app has been made multilingual. Now the Mandi operators can carry out one of the critical operation of Gate Entry directly from e-NAM Mobile App. This will also facilitate the farmers to do advance Gate Entry on Mobile app which in turn will reduce a lot of time for farmers coming in the Mandi and will bring huge efficiency and facilitate smooth arrival recording at the Gate. A new feature has been introduced for farmers where they can see the progress of their lot being traded and also real time bidding progress of price will be visible to farmers on Mobile App.

During the trade, facility of viewing the assaying certificate is made available to traders on the mobile app. Now, online payment by trader (buyer) can also be done from e-NAM Mobile App through debit card and net banking. This will help buyers to transfer the payment directly through the App and make it easier for traders in online payment to farmers. Also, SMS alert to farmer on receiving payment in their bank account will be sent thereby helping farmers in getting information of payment receipt.

  1. BHIM payment facility :
Currently e-NAM portal facilitates direct online payment to farmers through RTGS/NEFT, Debit Card and Internet Banking. Facilitation of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) through BHIM is another milestone in easing out payment to farmers which will also reduce the payment realization time from buyers’ account to the pool account and in turn disbursal to farmers.

  1. New and improved Website with eLearning Module:
A new website has been developed with improved and more informative features like live status of markets of e-NAM based on gate entry, latest information on events, dynamic training calendar etc. Also e-Learning module in Hindi language has been designed and incorporated in the website so that various stake holders can learn online about how to operate the system and continuously get trained on the system at their convenience. Currently the module is available in Hindi.

  1. MIS Dashboard:
MIS Dashboard based on Business intelligence will provide a greater insight into the performance of each Mandi in terms of arrival and trade. This will help the Mandi Board officials and APMC Secretary to compare the performance of each Mandi on daily, weekly, monthly/quarterly and Year-on-Year Basis. This will also enable officials and Mandi Secretary in doing actual trade analysis from commodity level to State level operation. This will also be beneficial for the Mandi Board and Mandi Secretary in planning and coordinating their operation post historical analysis.

  1. Grievance Redressal Management System for Mandi Secretaries:
This system will help Mandi Secretary to raise technology issues related to portal/ software and its operation and also track the status of redressal of their query online.

  1. Integration with Farmer Database:
e-NAM has been integrated with Central Farmer Database so that the registration process becomes easier and Identification of farmers can be done easily on arrival at the Mandi Gate which will increase the efficiency and reduce queue time. This will help in managing the load at the Gate more efficiently during peak time in Rabi and Kharif and reduce waiting time for farmers at the entry gate.



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The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh addressing at the launch of the New features in the e-NAM portal and updated mobile app with new features, in New Delhi on February 21, 2018. The Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is also seen.

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The Minister of State for Planning (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh briefing the media on the Union budget 2018-19 and NITI Aayog, in New Delhi on February 21, 2018. The CEO, NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant is also seen.

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The Minister of State for Planning (I/C) and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh briefing the media on the Union budget 2018-19 and NITI Aayog, in New Delhi on February 21, 2018. The CEO, NITI Aayog, Shri Amitabh Kant is also seen.

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Ministry for Development of North-East Region
21-February, 2018 15:51 IST

NER’s first regional Centre for Agriculture to be inaugurated in Mizoram on 7th March

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, here today. Various issues of common interest including start-ups, food processing, innovation and technology were discussed during the meeting.

Israeli Ambassador informed that a Centre for Agriculture is going to be inaugurated in Mizoram on 7th March this year. This will be the first such centre in the North East region of India that is being established he added. Set up with a cost of Rs 8-10 crore, this centre is exclusively for processing of citrus fruits. The project has been set up with the tripartite collaboration of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, and State Government of Mizoram.Will provide expertise knowledge and professional support. Though located in Mizoram, this centre will cater to the whole north east. There are 22 such operational centres in India including in the states of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab. The first centre was established in 2008 in Haryana. He said that in the long run, Israel wants to establish one such centre in each state.

DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that this centre is a beginning of the larger collaboration between the two countries in this area. The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will coordinate wherever required, he said. He further said that it will benefit the farmers of the north eastern region in the long run and will also encourage the farmers from other regions. It will serve as a model of learning for other countries in Indian sub-continent, he added. He said that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given priority to the development of North Eastern region of the country. He said that Sikkim has been declared the first Organic State of India can look forward to this kind of collaboration there also. It will benefit the people of North East in the area of innovation, specially for start-ups, both sides agreed.

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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
23-February, 2018 16:01 IST
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh addresses farmers at the North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 in Varanasi

All efforts directed to double farmer’s income by 2022, the year in which India celebrates 75 years of Independence: Union Agriculture Minister

In last three years, Budget allocation to agriculture sector has seen a rise with allocation at Rs. 58,080 Crores in 2018-19: Shri Radha Mohan Singh

Challenging task to double farmers’ income but Government is working on it: Union Agriculture Minister

India is a land of agriculture and farmers withsixty five per cent population dependent on agriculture. If agriculture is adopted as a business, it will not only help farmers live a life of self-esteem but also enable them to double their income in five years i.e. by 2022. This was stated by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh while addressing a gathering at North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 in Varanasi. Shri Singh said all efforts are directed to double farmer’s income by 2022, the year in which India celebrates 75 years of Independence.

The Fair was jointly organized by ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi; Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India; Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights Authority (PPVFRA), India; Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh and Association for Promotion of Innovations in Vegetables (APIV). The 3-day North Zone Regional Farmers Fair-2018 saw participation of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and New Delhi. The Fair will provide detailed information on ways to double farmer’s income through food nutrition and livelihood security. Scientific and technical guidance are also being provided to farmers in order to help them solve the problems related to agriculture sector.

Shri Singh said that India is home to 17.6% of world population, 15% livestock, 4.2% water body, 2.4% land and with only 124 million hectare of agriculture land, it is a challenging task to double farmers’ income but the Government is working on it. In order to achieve this objective, several programs are being run at the national level by the Ministry and ICAR.

The Minister said that such farmer fairs are a part of India’s social fabric. It helps in the transfer of advanced agricultural scientific techniques related to horticulture, fishing, poultry, animal husbandry and food processing and value addition among the farmers of rural areas. The Minister assured that the three day Fair will help impart advanced technologies to the farmers.For the purpose of agriculture diversification, the Fair will be helpful in providing information about the techniques of sustainable and profitable farming in horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, mushrooms cultivation and organic farming. This will enable them to double their earnings.

Shri Singh said that the Ministry is working to make farmers of India rich. For this, several programs are being implemented like Farmer FIRST, ARYA, student READY, MeraGaonMera Gaurav, post-harvest technology, food processing, price augmentation, region-specific agriculture education and Research & dissemination.

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The Additional District Magistrate and Project Director DRDA, Shri Deben Kumar Pradhan addressing the gathering on flagship programs of government at the Rural Media Workshop, ‘Vartalap’, organised by PIB, Bhubaneswar, at Tribal dominated Koraput, Odisha on February 23, 2018.
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Vice President's Secretariat
24-February, 2018 19:05 IST
Industry should increase investments in Agriculture sector: Vice President

Demonetization and GST reforms led to an expansion of the formal economy and brought about increased tax compliance; Addresses Confederation of Indian Industry's Partnership Summit 2018

The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that industry should increase investments in agriculture as over 58 per cent of the rural households are dependent on agriculture in India. He was addressing the CII Partnership Summit 2018, in Vishakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh today. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.



The Vice President said asked investors to look into the tremendous potential for investments. He further said that value addition can be made in agriculture and allied sectors like dairying, fisheries, poultry, food processing, setting up of cold storage facilities and refrigerated vans. Adding value to the farm produce is crucial for increasing farmers income and establishing agri-related industries in the rural areas will not only provide employment but also help in minimizing migration to cities, he added.



The Vice President said that Vital structural reforms like the implementation of demonetization and GST by the Indian government have led to an expansion of the formal economy and brought about increased tax compliance. The number of people, who had filed Income Tax returns increased from 6.47 crore in 2014-15 to 8.27 crore at the end of 2016-17, he added.



The Vice President said that Indian companies need to identify segments of global value chains with higher value addition and low entry barriers in global markets to achieve higher exports in the short term. He further said that connecting to global value chains is critical for Indian MSMEs. Access to technology and internet can be a major factor to allow SMEs to integrate with the global market and e-trade allows SMES to reach out to new export avenues and access to low-cost imported inputs, he added.



The Vice President welcomed the delegates to the Sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh, which is among the top States in the Ease of Doing Business. He further said that this State is endowed with a rich vast mineral resources, long coastline, talented human resources and most importantly uninterrupted power supply. It is endowed with rich natural resources & mineral wealth and boasts of the second longest coastline of 974 kms in the country next to Gujarat and it has 1000km of National Highways, 3 International airports and 5 operational airports, he added.



Following is the text of Vice President's address:



"We have gathered here at a time when India has emerged as one of the growing large economies in the world and the global outlook also looks brighter.



As per the IMF World Economic Outlook of January 2018, the Indian economy is projected to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2017 and 7.7% in 2018.



India is expected to become the third largest economy in the next 10-15 years and grow from $2.3 trillion today to about $8 trillion, with an average income of over $5,000.



As you all are aware, the world economy has undergone tremendous structural shifts due to rising influence and role of the emerging economies across the globe. This has led to a shift of balance of powers between the global north and the global south. This is perhaps the most significant geo-political development of the recent times.



The emerging economies including countries like India, China and Brazil have evolved from being policy takers to policy makers and are playing a significant role in multilateral world bodies.



Vital structural reforms like the implementation of demonetization and GST by the Indian government have led to an expansion of the formal economy and brought about increased tax compliance. The number of people, who had filed Income Tax returns increased from 6.47 crore in 2014-15 to 8.27 crore at the end of 2016-17.



Any tough reform will face teething problems in the initial stages and the same was the case with both demonetization and GST. However, the long-term advantages will definitely outweigh the short-term hiccups which caused a bit of economic slowdown. Well, that period is over now and the economy is on the track to achieve a higher growth.



As a result of strong macro-economic fundamentals and reforms, the Indian economy has been improving steadily. For instance, the Current Account Deficit (CAD), which ranged between 6.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent in the past, is now in the range of 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Similarly, the Fiscal Deficit hovered between 5.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent earlier. Now, it has been brought down to 3.5 per cent. It could have been reduced to 3.2 per cent, but for shortfall of GST revenue by a month.



The major reforms include harmonization of indirect taxes through GST, easing the regulatory environment, facilitating foreign direct investment across all sectors, massive recapitalization of the public sector banks at Rs.2.11 lakh crore to improve credit growth and investment and the implementation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.



Various reformatory measures have improved India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business by 30 slots—from 130 to 100. Friends, today India has emerged as a bright spot in the global economy and investors from around the world are coming here because of a host of advantages the country offers.



The FDI inflows have increased steadily from US$ 45 billion in 2014-15 to touch US$ 60 billion in 2016-17. India’s exports have been recovering steadily over the last several months and grew at over 12 per cent in the first three quarters of 2017-18.



A key item on the reform agenda has been restructuring of the banking system to reduce the non-performing assets. The recently introduced Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is being used by the RBI to speed up recoveries. Privatization as also sale of public sector units is being undertaken in many areas where the enterprises have been consistently making losses.



Apart from implementing reforms, the governments both at the national level and in various States are implementing measures to ensure a conducive atmosphere for businesses to grow. However, every reform should have a human face. There should be equitable distribution of prosperity and the fruits of development must reach the poorest of the poor.



Another area that is receiving top attention is infrastructure growth. Airports, ports, railways, power plants, roads, bridges and hotels, among others, are in an expansion mode. It is estimated that an investment of Rs 43 trillion is required over the next five years in sectors such as power, roads, ports and urban transportation.



India is a young nation with about 60 per cent of the population under the age of 35 years. Various initiatives like Skill India, Start-up India and Digital India have been launched to convert this huge, educated human resource talent into a “demographic dividend”.



India has become the third largest start up eco-system in the world. According to a NASSCOM report, about 1,000 start-ups were added in 2017 taking their number to nearly 5,200. Interestingly a chunk of these start-ups are from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.



With growing middle class, rising disposable incomes, expanding consumer market and the presence of a young, talented work force, the MNCs and other global giants are apparently looking to India. There is also a healthy competition among various State Governments, which are implementing reforms to attract investors.



Friends, another important area that needs the attention of both the government and investors is agriculture. Over 58 per cent of the rural households are dependent on agriculture in India, which is endowed with a vast agro-ecological diversity. There is tremendous potential for investments and value addition in agriculture and allied sectors like dairying, fisheries, poultry, food processing, setting up of cold storage facilities and refrigerated vans. As you all are aware, adding value to the farm produce is crucial for increasing farmers’ income. In view of the important role played by the food processing sector, the government has doubled the allocation to Rs.1,400 crore in this year’s budget. Establishing agri-related industries in the rural areas will not only provide employment but also help in minimizing migration to cities.



On the external front, the global economy is showing signs of pick-up after a prolonged phase of economic slowdown. According to recent OECD report, global GDP is projected to show a modest rise to 3.5 % in 2017 and 3.7% in 2018 from 3.2% in 2016. Yet the projected rates for global growth are much below pre-crisis averages, especially for the advanced economies as well as commodity exporting countries. This could bring attendant repercussions which might undermine the nascent signs of growth revival.



Already there are calls for protectionism from the advanced economies which, when implemented, could mean restrictive policies for cross-border trade and investment flows.



Although, India has a lot of trading agreements, both regional and bilateral, the country is yet to fully capitalize on the existing synergies in its Regional Trading Agreements. An example is the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) as South Asian region is the least integrated among all the regions in the world. The regional value chain (RVC) approach could be an appropriate model to foster intra-regional trade by deepening regional processes.



I feel the Indian companies need to identify segments of global value chains with higher value addition and low entry barriers in global markets to achieve higher exports in the short term.



In addition, connecting to global value chains (GVCs) is critical for Indian MSMEs. Access to technology and internet can be a major factor to allow SMEs to integrate with the global market. E-trade allows SMES to reach out to new export avenues and access to low-cost imported inputs.



Finally, I would like to welcome all of you to the Sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh, which is among the top States in the Ease of Doing Business. This State is endowed with a rich vast mineral resources, long coastline, talented human resources and most importantly uninterrupted power supply. Opportunities are aplenty for investors in different sectors, including pharmaceuticals, textiles, food processing, automobiles and electronics among others.



Andhra Pradesh, India’s Sunrise State, is a gateway to growing markets and promising opportunities with many advantages. One among the top states in the Ease of Doing Business.



It is endowed with rich natural resources & mineral wealth and boasts of the second longest coastline of 974 kms in the country next to Gujarat. It has 1000km of National Highways, 3 International airports and 5 operational airports. It has first river linking project. It has two industrial corridors. Its fast becoming a Pharam & Auto hub. It’s becoming a Solar power house with 1000MW installed and 1000 MW coming up.



India poised to be a $10tn eco by 2030, which is four times bigger than its current size, by 2030.



To achieve this country may have to adopt several unorthodox measures. For instance, with around 120 million people set to join the Indian workforce, skilling them in a short span of time is essential, “You cannot do that with conventional education, time frames of educating or imparting skill to people should be shortened” said Barton.



My best wishes for the success of all your endeavors to partner in India’s growth story. Thank you.



JAI HIND!"

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Ministry of Finance
26-February, 2018 18:47 IST
The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley : Rs.11 Lakh crore target for Priority Sector lending to Agriculture Sector is an achievable target.

The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley stated that the Agriculture Credit flow target of Rs.11 lakh crore for the Financial Year 2018-19 is achievable by the banking sector and would add to the momentum towards doubling the farmers’ income by 2022. The Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley was delivering the Annual Address to Board of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) here in New Delhi today. He also reviewed the Funds announced in the earlier Union Budgets and stressed the need for all the stakeholders to collaborate to improve the farmers’ income. The Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley emphasized that the banking sector must invest in long term assets to improve the capital formation in Agriculture Sector. He further stated that the investments in financial technology over the past few years have brought in efficiency, speed and transparency in the rural financial eco system.



Shri Rajeev Kumar, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Government of India, highlighted the necessity of financial inclusion and adoption of technologies to make use of the opportunities arising out of higher GDP growth. He requested the banking system to concentrate on geographical areas like North East, East and Central India where the formal credit can give a fillip to the growth potential these areas offer. He also mentioned that his Department is actively engaged with other Ministries to create an enriching eco-system.



Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD mentioned that NABARD has operationalised the funds announced in the previous Union Budget and specifically said that the Prime Ministers’ Grameen Awas Yojana is about to be supported through Rs.9000 crore shortly. The Rs.5000 crore Micro Irrigation Fund which will promote water conserving and productivity enhancing technologies, will also be operationalised shortly. He emphasised the need for formation of robust Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) and committed to the Finance Minister that NABARD will also form FPOs quickly.



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The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor holding a review meeting with the State officials of Tribal Welfare Department, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai on February 27, 2018.
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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
27-February, 2018 18:01 IST
Government committed to doubling farmers income by 2022 so that they can live a life of happiness and prosperity: Union Agriculture Minister

To achieve the ambitious objective of doubling farmers income, government encourages adoption of 'multi-dimensional seven-point' strategy: Shri Singh

Government is committed to doubling farmer’s income by 2022 so that they can live a life of happiness and prosperity. This was stated by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh while addressing the concluding ceremony of All India Farmers’ Fair and Agro-Industrial Exhibition in Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat; Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Subodh Uniyal and Dr. AK Misra, Vice-Chancellor also graced the occasion.

The Agriculture Minister appreciated the work of Govind Ballabh Pant Agriculture and Technology University, Pant Nagar and said the university has found a place in 200 best universities of BRICS countries in the year 2016. As recently as this month, the university was also rated in the 350 best universities in Asia thereby making it only the second Agriculture University to get this recognition. This university has done remarkable work in the field of agricultural research, education and expansion.

Shri Radha Mohan Singh also inaugurated a seed processing plant of National Seeds Corporation (NSC) inside the university premises. He was appreciative of the fact that for the first time, a seed processing plant has been set up by NSC which will help solve the problem of seed production in hilly regions. The variety of seeds used in hilly regions are not commercial viable for production in plains. The transportation of seeds for processing from hilly regions increases the cost of seeds. This processing plant will now be set up in the hilly region which will help seeds of certain species to be developed in the same climate. This will not only increase production but also prevent its extinction.

The Minister said the evolution of some of the mountain crops is due to its special climate where several varieties of medicinal crops have been growing for centuries. Special varieties of Ragi (mandua), Saawan (zagora), which were on the verge of extinction, are grown. Shri Singh said it is imperative to give urgent attention to the development and conservation of special variety of crops developed in the hills.

Agriculture Minister said the Prime Minister and the Government are committed to doubling farmer’s income by 2022 and for this the Government has increased the budgetary allocation of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Ministry in the budget 2018-19 to Rs 58,080 cr from 51,576 cr in 2017-18. The Government is committed to the agriculture sector and has been pushing for the implementation of schemes that aims to shift priority from production-led to income-led strategy.

To achieve this ambitious objective, the government is encouraging to adopt the 'multi-dimensional seven-point' strategy suggested by Hon'ble Prime Minister, which includes-

  1. Emphasis on irrigation along with end to end solution on creation of resources for ‘More crop per drop'
  2. 'Provision of quality seeds and nutrients according to the soil quality of each farm.
  3. Large investments in warehouses and cold chains to prevent Post-harvest losses.
  4. Promotion of value addition through food processing.
  5. Implementation of National Agricultural Markets and e-platforms (e-NAM) to eliminate shortcomings of all the 585 centers.
  6. To mitigate the risk, introduction of crop insurance scheme at a lower cost.
  7. Promotion of allied activities such as Dairy-Animal husbandry, Poultry, Bee-keeping, Medh Per Ped, Horticulture, and Fisheries.
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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
27-February, 2018 18:00 IST
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare releases 2nd Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2017-18

Country witnesses record food grains production in 2017-18

Total food grain production estimate hits record high of 277.49 million tonnes

Total Pulses production estimated at record 23.95 million tonnes

Total Oilseeds production estimate reaches 29.88 million tonnes

Sugarcane production estimate rises considerably to 353.23 million tonnes

The 2nd Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2017-18 have been released by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare today in New Delhi. The assessment of production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources. The estimated production of various crops as per the 2nd Advance Estimates for 2017-18 vis-à-vis the comparative estimates for the years 2003-04 onwards is enclosed.

2. As per 2nd Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during 2017-18 is as under:

  • Foodgrains – 277.49 million tonnes (record)
    • Rice – 111.01 million tonnes (record)
    • Wheat – 97.11 million tonnes
    • Coarse Cereals – 45.42 million tonnes (record)
    • Maize – 27.14 million tonnes (record)
    • Pulses – 23.95 million tonnes (record)
    • Gram – 11.10 million tonnes (record)
    • Tur – 4.02 million tonnes
    • Urad – 3.23 million tonnes (record)
  • Oilseeds – 29.88 million tonnes
    • Soyabean – 11.39 million tonnes
    • Groundnut – 8.22 million tonnes
    • Castorseed – 1.50 million tonnes
  • Cotton – 33.92 million bales (of 170 kg each)
  • Sugarcane – 353.23 million tonnes
3. As a result of near normal rainfall during monsoon 2017 and various policy initiatives taken by the Government, country has witnessed record Foodgrains production in the current year. As per Second Advance Estimates for 2017-18, total foodgrains production in the country is estimated at 277.49 million tonnes which is higher by 2.37 million tonnes than the previous record production of foodgrains of 275.11 million tonnes achieved during is estimated at record 111.01 million tonnes.

Production of rice has increased by 1.31 million tonnes than the production of 109.70 million tonnes during 2016-17. It is also higher by 4.71 million tonnes than the five years’ average production of 106.29 million tonnes.

5. Production of Wheat estimated at 97.11 million tonnes is lower by 1.40 million tonnes as compared to record wheat production of 98.51 million tonnes achieved during 2016-17. However, the production of wheat during 2017-18 is higher by 3.77 million tonnes than the average wheat production.

6. Production of Coarse cereals estimated at record 45.42 million tonnes is higher than the average production by 3.72 million tonnes. Further, it is also higher by 1.65 million tonnes as compared to their production of 43.77 million tonnes achieved during 2016-17.

7. Total Pulses production during 2017-18 is estimated at record 23.95 million tonnes which is higher by 0.82 million tonnes than the previous year’s production of 23.13 million tonnes. Moreover, the production of pulses during 2017-18 is higher than the Five years ‘average production by 5.10 million tonnes.

8. Total Oilseeds production in the country during 2017-18 is estimated at 29.88 million tonnes which is lower by 1.39 million tonnes than the production of 31.28 million tonnes during 2016-17. However, the production of oilseeds during 2017-18 is marginally higher by 0.34 million tonnes than the average oilseeds production.

9. With a significant increase by 47.16 million tonnes over 2016-17, total production of Sugarcane in the country during 2017-18 is estimated at 353.23 million tonnes. The production of sugarcane during 2017-18 is also higher by 11.19 million tonnes than the average sugarcane production of 342.04 million tonnes.

10. Production of Cotton estimated at 33.92 million bales (of 170 kg each) is higher than the previous year’s production of 32.58 million bales. Further, it is also higher by 0.41 million bales than its average production of 33.50 million bales.

11. Production of Jute & Mesta estimated at 10.51 million bales (of 180 kg each) is lower than their production during the 2016-17.

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Ministry of Finance
27-February, 2018 18:22 IST
India aspires for Infrastructure creation not only in terms of conventional infrastructure but also rural infrastructure: Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley

No better place than India to hold the 3rd annual meeting of the Board of Governors: Mr Jin Liqun, President, AIIB 3rd Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Development Bank(AIIB) to be held in Mumbai from 25th to 26th June

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley today said that India aspires for infrastructure creation not only in terms of conventional infrastructure but also rural infrastructure. Delivering the Inaugural Address at a Curtain Raiser Ceremony for the 3rd Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) here today, the Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley expressed hope that with each Annual Meeting, the activities, pipeline of projects and resources of the AIIB will expand. The Finance Minister added that Asia has conventionally suffered an infrastructure deficit. He said that Asia in terms of poverty alleviation, needs to grow faster to bring-up the standard of living of its people and bridge the infrastructure gap that exists.

The Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley welcomed the President, AIIB and his colleagues to India. On the achievements of the AIIB, Shri Jaitley said that in less than 3 years of its existence, the Bank has started functioning fairly effectively. He said that with the benefit of hindsight, he was glad that India agreed to be a part of the AIIB and that India has been at the forefront of providing a pipeline of projects including many of which are under consideration.

Earlier, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley together with Mr Jin Liqun, President, AIIB inaugurated the Logo and Theme of 3rd AIIB Annual Meeting of Board of Governors scheduled to be held in Mumbai from 25th to 26th June, 2018.

President of AIIB, Mr. Jin Liqun in his address said that because of India’s second highest stake in the bank and its importance, there was no better place than India to hold the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB. He said that India plays a very important role in the running of the bank. He informed the gathering that priorities of AIIB were aligned with the goals of Government of India to build infrastructure to improve the quality of life of its people at large.

The Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance, Shri Subhash Chandra Garg informed the gathering that a number of events have been lined-up till the Annual Meeting of Board of Governors in Mumbai on 25th and 26th June, 2018. Speaking about the AIIB, the Secretary, DEA said it was the First such institution floated by borrowers and that it has already 84 Members with India as the 2nd largest Stakeholder.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, External Affairs and AIIB.

Background:

About Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank:

AIIB is a multilateral development bank founded to bring countries together to address Asia’s daunting infrastructure needs. Headquartered in Beijing, AIIB began operations in January 2016 and has now grown to 84 approved members worldwide. Its mission is to improve economic and social development in Asia by investing in high-quality, financially viable and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects.

About This Year’s Annual Meeting:

The AIIB’s 3rd Annual Meeting will be held in Mumbai, India on 25th and 26th June, 2018.

It will bring together leaders from all types of organizations and levels of government to share ideas and experiences for creating a sustainable future through sound infrastructure investment. Ministers from AIIB members, as well as participants from partner institutions, the private sector, civil society organizations and leading experts from a range of fields will join the gathering to discuss and share recommendations on how Asia’s infrastructure gap can be addressed in an environmentally and socially friendly way.

This year’s theme is “Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration,” in recognition of the private sector’s vital role in bridging the infrastructure gap. This year will also see the launch of the inaugural Asian Infrastructure Forum, which will gather infrastructure practitioners in a practical and project-driven discussion, focused on matching innovative finance to critical infrastructure needs.

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurating a seed processing plant of National Seeds Corporation (NSC) at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand on February 27, 2018.

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The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani lighting the lamp to inaugurate the 27th Technological Conference - ‘Shaping the Future of Jute’, organised by Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association, in Kolkata on February 28, 2018.
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The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani releasing a book at the inauguration of the 27th Technological Conference - ‘Shaping the Future of Jute’, organised by Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association, in Kolkata on February 28, 2018.

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The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Irani addressing at the inauguration of the 27th Technological Conference - ‘Shaping the Future of Jute’, organised by Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association, in Kolkata on February 28, 2018.


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Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
28-February, 2018 17:19 IST
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare congratulates Indian Council of Agricultural Research for completing 88 glorious years

Entire focus is on farmers' welfare and Budget 2018 reiterates emphasis on holistic development of agriculture sector: Shri Radha Mohan Singh

Several policy initiatives in the last three years resulted in record food grain production in the current year: Union Agriculture Minister

Very proud of our peasant brothers and scientists for having taken India to the top slot in Horticulture: Shri Singh



The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh today addressed the 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) society at National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in Pusa, New Delhi. Shri Singh congratulated ICAR for completing 88 glorious years and lauded the institution for having braved the odds despite challenging circumstances to achieve notable success in improving agriculture system and enhancing agriculture production and productivity in the country thereby increasing income of the farmers, especially the small and marginal farmers.

The minister said that ICAR has taken important steps towards fulfilling Prime Minister’s vision of doubling farmer’s income by 2022. The ICAR has also done notable work in the field of developing new technologies, integrated farming systems, institution building, human resource, diversification in agriculture, creating new opportunities and developing new sources of information. The ICAR is committed to making Indian agriculture more sustainable and beneficial.

Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Panchayati Raj and Smt. Krishna Raj, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; Shri Mahadev Jagannath Jankar, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Development, Maharashtra; Shri Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Minister of Agriculture and Horticulture, Telangana; Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); Shri Surya Pratap Shahi, Minister of Agriculture, Uttar Pradesh; Dr. Ram Lal Markanda, Minister of Agriculture, Himachal Pradesh; Shri Prem Kumar, Minister of Agriculture and Horticulture, Bihar; Shri Ghulam Nabi Lone, Minister for Agriculture Production, Jammu & Kashmir; Shri Abdul Ghani Kohli, Minister for Animal, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries, Jammu & Kashmir; Shri Udumalai Radhakrishnan, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Tamil Nadu and Shri Thalavai Sundaram, Special Representative, Govt. of Tamil Nadu were also present at the occasion.

Shri Singh said that the government is committed in its effort to double farmer’s income by 2022 and is working for the betterment of the sector and farmers. He said his entire focus is on farmers' welfare and Budget 2018 reiterates the government’s emphasis on holistic development of agriculture sector. For the first time in this budget, the rural outlay has increased by 30%.

Agriculture minister asserted that several policy initiatives of the government in the last three years have resulted in record production of food grains in the country in the current year. In 2017-18, production of food grain was 275.68 million tones as compared to 265.04 million tonnes in 2013-14, showing a significant rise of 10.64 million tonnes (or about 4 percent). The food grain production in the current year is, in fact, 19 million tonnes more than the average food grain production between 2011-12 and 2015-16.

The Minister also expressed happiness over record production in horticulture in 2016-17 at 305 million tonnes, which is 4.8% more than the previous year. The fruit production has crossed 93 million tonnes and vegetable production has reached 178 million tonnes. He applauded the special contribution of ICAR in achieving this milestone and said that he is very proud of his peasant brothers and scientists for having taken India to the top slot in horticulture.

Shri Singh said the ICAR has developed 45 IFS by including 15 agro-climatic zones to help small and marginal farmers to tide over the problems associated with climate change. This model will be replicated and taken forward through agricultural science centers spread across the country. Besides this, ICAR has also developed 623 District Level contingency schemes, which were certified and skill development programs for 40.9 lakh farmers were organized.

In order to assist the Government’s “Soil Health Card” initiative, minilabs were developed for soil testing. ICAR through its agriculture science centres spread across the country have displayed climate friendly techniques in 29 States. A total of 42 biological agricultural technologies were developed by ICAR which were tested and further improved. ICAR has also developed 42 organic farming techniques, which were tested and are being further improved.

In order to take scientific knowledge to the farmers, the Government has started a program called 'Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, in which five villages are adopted by a group of four scientists who impart agricultural consultation and information to farmers. A total of 1226 teams have been formed this year from a pool of 4774 scientists sourced from ICAR and state agriculture universities. This program has already benefitted 9,76,033 farmers and 5.346 villages.

The government, for the benefit of farmers, has initiated several programs like agriculture expansion, Sankalp Se Siddhi, 'Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav, infrastructure development, agriculture education, agricultural research, international cooperation and technology transfer among others.

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