Maharashtra Government's Scheme Will Benefit Cotton & Soyabean Farmers

A plan has been formed to aid farmers as the Maharashtra government sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore to boost cotton and soybean production in the state. According to the project, 100 acres of farmers are covered, and ten groups are formed, each with a farmer producer company. By the end of the plan, which began in June, the government hopes to have covered 300–400 farmer producer companies.

The government have decided to provide Rs 450 crore for cotton and soyabean and Rs 100 crore for other oilseeds.

According to Dashrath Tambhale, director of agriculture and additional project director for the State of Maharashtra's Agri-business and Rural Transformation Program (Smart) project, soybean and cotton make up over 60% of the crops farmed in Maharashtra.

The scheme was put in place to aid low-income farmers who reside in underproductive regions. "While farmers shall raise crops individually, marketing and buying machines could be done in groups," stated Vikas Patil, director of agriculture (extension and training), Agriculture Commissionerate. If a farmer wishes to acquire a machine, he or she may not be able to do so on their own, but buying in bulk is simpler. Therefore, the scheme will benefit farmers.

Authorities claim that 22 soyabean-growing districts and 17 cotton-growing districts have already adopted the plan. Beed, Akola, and Amravati are a few of the districts that grow cotton, whereas Latur, Osmanabad, and Buldhana are those that grow soybean.

Previously, the Government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavor, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs). This facility is presently seeking applications from DAT solution providers, with a presence in India, to bring in digital and technical innovations in the agriculture sector.

The facility will enable selecting DAT solution providers to work directly with the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Maharashtra to implement transformative solutions.

The facility is a part of US$ 300 million Hon. Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) project, aims to enable collectives of smallholder farmers to participate in competitive agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity, and build the resilience of crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the state.