What PM said to farmers through video conference

Addressing the farmers of the nation as ‘Annadatas’ (food providers) The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, interacted with farmers across the country on 20 June 2018, through video bridge. Over 2 lakh Common Service Centres (CSC) and 600 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) were connected through the video dialogue. This is the seventh interaction in the series by the Prime Minister through video conference with various beneficiaries of Government schemes.

Krishi Jagran attended the meeting with the farmer at various KVKs in various states through out the country. In the West, KVK Sardarshahar in Rajasthan witnessed a huge gathering of the farmers who came to listen to the PM Modi on the big screen. Same kind of engagement and rush was witnessed at the KVK Khordha at  ICAR-CIFA in Odisha.

Expressing happiness while interacting with farmers from over 600 districts, Prime Minister passed on the entire credit for nation’s food security to the farmers.

Wide range of agricultural and allied sectors including Organic Farming, Blue Revolution, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, Floriculture were all covered by the Prime Minister.

Focusing on the government’s vision of Doubling Farmer’s income by 2022, Prime Minister added that the effort is to ensure that farmers receive help during all steps of farming, from the preparation of crops to its sales. He emphasized that Government is keen on ensuring minimal cost of raw material, providing fair value for the produce, stopping wastage of the produce and ensuring alternate sources of income for the farmers.

Government is committed to make the farmers feel initiatives be taken to bring change in the implementation of ‘Beej Se Bazaar’ (Seed to Market), to improve traditional farming.

Taking the campaign “4 years of Modi Govt.” ahead and talking about the transformation of the farming sector, Shri Narendra Modi said that the agriculture sector has developed rapidly in the last 48 months. He added that there has been record production of milk, fruits and vegetables in the country during the period.

Government has almost doubled the budget provision for agricultural sector (2014-2019) to Rs. 2,12,000 crore compared to Rs. 1,21,000 during the past five years of the previous government. Similarly, food grain production has increased to more than 279 million tonnes in 2017-2018 compared to average of 255 million tonnes during 2010-2014. The period also saw 26 % increase in fish farming due to Blue Revolution and 24% increase in Animal Husbandry and milk production.

Interacting with the famers’, Prime Minister said that to ensure the overall welfare of the farmer, government has provided Soil Health Cards; credit through Kisan Credit Cards; quality fertilizers through the provision of Neem coated Urea, crop insurance through Fasal Bima Yojana and irrigation through Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. Under the PM Krishi Sinchai Yojana, about 100 irrigation projects are being completed across the country today and around 29 lakh hectare land has been brought under irrigation.

Government also started the e-NAM, an online platform, enabling farmers to sell their produce at the right price. In the past four years, more than 585 regulated wholesale markets have been brought under e-NAM. Government has also brought nearly 22 lakh hectare land under organic farming, compared to just 7 lakh hectares in 2013-2014. Government also plans to promote North-East as the hub of Organic Farming.

During the interaction, Prime Minister expressed delight in the collective strength displayed by the farmers through the formation of Farmer Producer Group and FPO (Farmer Producer Organisation), enabling them to get agricultural inputs at low cost and marketing their products effectively. In the past 4 years, 517 Farmer Producer Organizations have been created and income tax exemption has been granted to Farmer Producer Companies, to encourage cooperatives among farmers.

Interacting with the Prime Minister, beneficiaries of various agricultural schemes explained how various government schemes helped improve production. Beneficiaries also highlighted the importance of Soil Health Card and shared their experiences of the cooperative movement.