M S Swaminathan Research Foundation on Monday (20th April 2020) said that the Government should immediately increase the amount paid to farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-Kisan) to Rs 15,000 per year due to the current situation in the country.
Under PM-Kisan yojana, small and marginal farmers are given Rs. 6000 per year in three equal instalments of Rs. 2000 each.
The Swaminathan foundation, which is headed by the renowned agriculture scientist, has said in a statement that the money paid currently under PM-Kisan scheme is not enough to overcome the current losses & make investment for the next cropping season.
The department of agriculture and horticulture must immediately take steps to market perishable produce such as fruits and vegetables in a sustained manner. Likewise, ensuring safe and sufficient local transport for farm labourers be provided by the Centre, it said. The foundation added that there is more demand for agricultural labourers in certain regions where the crops are in the peak harvesting stage. It further highlighted that these farm labourers were not getting enough employment opportunities in their villages and hence asked for ‘adequate protective & safety measures’ for them.
Swaminathan suggested that the government must ensure the procurement of Rabi crop harvest with a guaranteed minimum support price. Taking into account the gaps in the supply chain, the Centre has to ensure the procurement of non-perishable food products from farmers as per MSP.
He said that fresh credit to growers irrespective of their earlier loan must be provided to start farm preparatory work for the Kharif or South West monsoon season. He added that farm equipment like threshers and harvesters should be given priority in movement to help the farmers.
In addition, use of ICT tools such as mobile-based voice mails, social media - WhatsApp & phone-in programmes via mail are working well in connecting cultivators with agriculture experts & officials.
He said the advantage of such tools must be harnessed effectively to update officials thereby reducing the gaps in executing the guidelines in a farmer friendly manner.
