Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has laid emphasis on chalking out such a crop insurance policy under which farmers can be assured of minimum income even in contingencies and natural calamities. He said that insurance policy should be framed keeping in view farmers’ practical difficulties. The Chief Minister was addressing inaugural session of a national conference on crop insurance here on Monday.
The Chief Minister said that crop insurance policy should totally eliminate risk for farmers. Agriculture is still the backbone of our economy. Every possible effort has been made in Madhya Pradesh to make agriculture profitable. Miraculous rise in state’s agriculture growth rate has been possible through unprecedented expansion of irrigation facilities.
Reduction in cost, fair prices of farmers produce and compensation of loss to crop due to natural disasters is necessary for profitable agriculture. loans at zero percent interest rate are being made available to farmers in the state to reduce cost. He said that rain-fed agriculture, which is still continuing, is affected by climate change. Every farmer can be made happy by covering risk for loss of his crop. last year, relief worth Rs 3,300 crore was distributed to farmers whose soybean and wheat crops were affected by climate change.
The Chief Minister said that existing crop insurance schemes are impractical and not farmer-friendly. Much time is consumed in assessing crop loss under these policies. All non-loanee farmers and all crops must be covered under crop insurance scheme. There should be provision for relief to farmers even in case of failure of crop and drought. Insurance claims should be disposed of speedily. Relief should be deposited directly in farmers’ bank accounts. There should also be provision to assess loss of farmers due to fall in prices of produce. Premium of the scheme should be affordable for farmers, he added.
Agriculture Minister Gaurishankar Bisen said that formulation of an ideal crop insurance policy is need of the hour to provide risk cover to farmers in times of crisis. He said that protecting farmers in the event of disasters is responsibility of both the State and Central governments. He said that the state has earned encomiums in the country by increasing wheat and milk production. He said that conferences on formulation of new crop insurance policy should be held in entire country so that Central government can also obtain experts’ views regarding this. He added that Madhya Pradesh has made pioneering efforts for welfare of farmers, be it extension of facilities or distribution of liberal relief. The changes in national agriculture crop insurance policy as per changing times have become need of the hour.
Chief Secretary Anthony DeSa said that Madhya Pradesh has become crown of the country in agriculture sector due to concerted efforts of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. It has surpassed Punjab, Haryana in wheat production and states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in milk production. It is also ahead in production of Basmati rice. Agriculture growth rate has increased at unprecedented rate. He said that now historic initiative is being taken to formulate a new crop insurance policy in Madhya Pradesh to benefit farmers. He said that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has taken this initiative in view of lacunae in national crop insurance policy.
BJP Vice-President and in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Vinay Sahastrabuddhe, Chairman of Agriculture Cost and Price Commission Ashok Vishandas, Union Additional Secretary Agriculture AK Shrivastava, foreign countries’ experts and representatives of insurance companies were also present. Joshua Madson, Chicago, Miguel Fusco, Argentina, Christopher Coe, Agriculture Head, Asia Pacific, Singapore, leif Heimfahart, Germany, Henry Kannan, Switzerland and senior officers of the state government also attended the session.