Raipur, 9 July 2017
Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh has appealed people of state to participate in large numbers in the plantation programmes to be organized under Hariyar Chhattisgarh campaign on July 20. Chief Minister made this appeal while addressing to the listeners of the 23rd episode of monthly radio programme ‘Raman Ke Goth’ from Raipur centre of Akashwani. This year, state government has set the target of planting eight crore saplings in state this year, for which special campaign will be launched from July 20. We all will pledge to meet the target
Chief Minister said- on July 20, plantation programmes will be organized in all the districts, tehsils, blocks and panchayats of Chhattisgarh. District Collectors and Forest Department Officials have issued instructions for preparations of this programme. People will be provided with saplings for plantation on their own land or farm also. Saplings for fruit bearing trees are also available. Keeping in view the ongoing rainy season, Chief Minister’s today’s radio programme was based on agricultural schemes.
He said- this year, state government has set the target of sowing in 48 lakh hectare area of state in kharif season. This includes, sowing of paddy in 36 lakh 50 thousand hectare, lentils in four lakh hectares, oilseeds in three lakh hectare and vegetables-sugarcane etc in nearly 1.5 lakh hectares. Chief Minister informed the listeners that this year production of nearly 91 lakh 76 thousand metric tones of foog grains, lentils and vegetables etc is expected. I pray that we meet this target and good crops bring prosperity to farmers.
7.45 lakh quintals of seeds and 10.65 lakh tons of fertilizers arranged for kharif season
Dr Raman Singh said- for convenience of farmers, we have formulated suitable schemes to ensure timely availability of all they require for farming. This year, seven lakh 45 thousand quintals of seeds and 10 lakh 65 thousand metric tons of fertilizers has been made available for kharif season.
Interest-free loan facility to 11 lakh farmers of state
Earlier farmers had to take agriculture loans at interest rate of 14 per cent. The high interest rate used to make it difficult for the farmers to repay the loan and becoming defaulter thereby used to hinder their progress. We have broken this trap of loans with high interest rate. We have gradually brought down the interest rates and now we are providing interest-free short term agriculture loans to farmers, benefitting 11 lakh farmers every year. Earlier farmers in state used to avail laons of Rs 150 crore only, but now they avail interest free agriculture loans worth nearly Rs three thousand crore. This shows the great leap in farmers’ economic condition in Chhattisgarh. Dr Singh said- now that farmers are availing 20 times more loans than before, their production value has also increased. He said- paddy is lifeline of Chhattisgarh, this is why we have made an excellent transparent system for paddy procurement, which is appreciated across the country.
6.22 crores metric tons of paddy procured from farmers in last 13 years
Chief Minister said- one thousand 989 procurement centres are there in Chhattisgarh, wherein 6 crore 22 lakh metric tons of paddy have been procured in last 13 years and nearly Rs 64 thousand 730 crores have been paid to farmers against the procurement. There has been significant positive change in lives of farmers due to the measures taken for reducing input cost of agriculture, good crop and excellent procurement arrangements.
First Kisaan Bazaar started in Dhamtari
First ever ‘Kisaan Bazaar’ of state has been established in Dhamtari, on initiative of district administration, wherein producer and customer will come together without any interference of middlemen. In this way, vegetable producers are getting good value for their crops and citizens are getting fresh vegetables at reasonable price. This ‘Kisaan Bazaar’ is equipped with the facilities of verification of vegetable sellers, registeration, counter allotment, weighing machine etc. Price of the vegetables is decided by a committee. Daily nearly 1.50 tons of vegetables are sold in two hours in the morning. I feel this kind of arrangement should be there in other districts too.
Chhattisgarh is the first state to provide free electricity to pumps of 5 horse power capacity
Chief Minister said- Chhattisgarh is the first state to provide free electricity supply for pumps of 5 horse power capacity. 7500 units of free electricity per pump is provided every year, due to which each beneficiary farmer gets annual benefit of Rs 31 thousand on an average. Under this scheme, farmers belonging to SC/ST are availing benefits of Rs 50 thousand each on an average. In addition, ‘Saur Sujala Yojana’- the scheme of distributing 51 thousand solar pumps in two years, has been launched for places where facilitating electricity supply through traditional ways is not possible. Under this scheme, pumps worth nearly Rs 3 lakh to 5 lakh are provided to farmers at Rs 7 thousand to 20 thousand only. 12 thousand farmers have already availed this scheme. Dr Raman Singh also informed the listeners that one ‘kisaan sangwari’ has been nominated in every two village and ‘kisaan mitaan kendra’ have been opened in every district headquarters to facilitate the benefits of the scheme to farmers of the state. He said- in kisaan mitaan kendra, farmers get all the necessary information under one roof along with the support and guidance of departments concerned.
Subsidy for drip-sprinkler
Dr Raman Singh informed in today’s episode of ‘Raman Ke Goth’ that state government is providing subsidy of Rs 11,800 for sprinkler to small and marginal farmers and that of Rs 7800 to other farmers for the same. Likewise, subsidy of Rs 40 thousand to 60 thousand is being provided per hectare for drip. In year 2016-17, number of target beneficiaries was 29 thousand, which has been increased to one lakh in year 2017-18. Decision to avail the loan of Rs 193 crore from NABARD for micro-irrigation and provide irrigation facility on large scale has been taken.
Bonus payment to more than 12 thousand sugarcane farmers of state
Dr Raman Singh told listeners that four sugar factories have been established in the cooperative sector of the state. Sugarcane bonus at the rate of nearly Rs 33 thousand on an average has been paid to more than 12 thousand farmers of state. Organic certification campaign is being conducted in villages of six districts namely Sarguja, Surajpur, Jashpurnagar, Kondagaon, Dantewada and Korba, under traditional agriculture development scheme. In these districts, more than eight thousand farmers of 9 thousand acre area have been included. Under Organic Farming Mission, action plan to make five districts namely Gariband, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Sukma and Dantewada, and one development block in each of the remaining 22 districts completely organic, has been prepared. Chief Minister informed that under ‘per drop more crop’ scheme, drip has been established in 4860 hectare area and sprinkler system has been installed in more than 23 thosuand hectare area at the cost of Rs 59 crore.
More than 29 thousand cello tubewell near riverbanks
Dr Raman Singh said- under National Agriculture Scheme, more than 29 thousand cello tubewell have been dug near riverbanks, and 185 check dams have been constructed at the cost of Rs 15 crore. Under ‘Kisaan Samriddhi Yojana’, tubewell have been dug in farmers of five thousand farmers at the cost of Rs 14 crore in year 2016-17. Under Shakambhari Yojana, 8300 wells have been dug for small marginal farmers and more than 1 lakh 86 thousand pumps have been distributed to them. Chief Minister informed that- under kharif kranti vistar yojana, four lakh 76 thousand farmers have been provided with seeds, crops, integrated pesticides, borewell, agriculture equipments etc worth nearly Rs 108 crore. Farmers have also been provided with the free copy of land record and maps worth more than nearly Rs 58 lakh. Irrigated area in state has increased from 22 per cent to 34 per cent. Under Lakshya Bhagirathi Abhiyan, 106 old and incomplete schemes have been completed, which developed new irrigation capacity of 51 thousand hectare area.
Kharang, Maniyari and Kelo selected under Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme
Dr Raman Singh informed the listeners that separate irrigation schemes have been chalked out at district and state levels under Prime Minister Agriculture Irrigation Scheme to minimize the gap of demand and availability of water. Three irrigation projects of state- Kharang, Maniyari and Kelo have been sleected for ‘fast track’ progress, told Dr Singh. Till year 2019, irrigation capacity of 42 thousand 625 hectare will be developed under these schemes. Dr Singh said- for the first time in the country, time-bound programme has been chalked out to double the income of farmers. Under this programme, a road map has been prepared keeping in view the climatic condition, soil, local speciality and which crop should be sown in what condition.
Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme: More than 16 lakh farmers benefitted
Chief Minister said- farmers of Chhattisgarh are being hugely benefitted by revolutionary initiative taken by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi by launching Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme. This scheme is a boon for farmers, as it provides insurance cover for crops against damage due to fire, water and other reasons. Last year, more than 16 lakh farmers have been benefitted under the scheme, including both kharif and rabi crops, and government paid premium amount of total Rs 340 crore, in which State and Centre have 50-50 per cent share. In year 2015, insurance claim worth nearly Rs 650 crore has been done against the loss incurred by drought-affected farmers.
