New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has presented the report card of the Agriculture Ministry to the public on the completion of 100 days of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. During this, Mr. Chauhan said that agriculture and farmer welfare are the top priorities of the Modi government. He said that the Center approved the Digital Agriculture Mission to increase the use of technology in agriculture. Union Minister Mr. Chauhan said that agriculture and farmer welfare are the top priorities for Narendra Modi.
Shivraj said that 109 new varieties of 65 crops were released to increase crop production, which are climate friendly, pest resistant and high yielding. He said that in Modi 3.0, the 17th installment of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi was released in the accounts of about 9.5 crore farmers. Along with this, our government also added new names of 25 lakh left out farmers. He said that it is the priority of our government that farmers get cheap fertilizer on time. The central government has given a subsidy of Rs 1.94 lakh crore in fertilizer last year.
According to the third estimate of the Central Government, the production of Kharif rice in the 2023-24 crop year (July-June) was 11.43 crore tonnes. The minister said that till last week, the total rice acreage has increased by 16.4 lakh hectares to 4.1 crore hectares.
Chauhan expressed an optimistic view about the overall Kharif crop production despite some damage to oilseed crops like soybean. He said that the sowing area for pulses, coarse cereals and oilseeds has improved compared to last year. The use of better crop varieties is expected to increase productivity. Earlier, while discussing the achievements of the first 100 days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term, Chauhan outlined the government’s strategy to increase both agricultural production and farmers’ income by ensuring assured procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
