The Chhattisgarh Government is providing free seeds and fertilisers to the tribal families holding forest right certificates in the State, officials stated.
The Government had been banking heavily on production and distribution of high quality certified seeds to the farmers for improving quality of crop output in the State, they stated. A total of 9 lakh quintals of certified seeds were produced and distributed to the farmers during 2014 in Chhattisgarh, officials informed.
The aim of the State Government is to increase the production of certified seeds by 31 per cent during the next five years. In order to achieve the target, ‘Akthi Beej Samvardhan Yojana’ was launched earlier in 2009-10, to encourage farmers to produce certified seeds, they stated. The Agriculture Department officials said that subsidy of Rs500 per quintal is given to farmers who produce certified seeds.
They said that there is an increase of 15 to 20 per cent output of crops if certified seeds are used instead of ordinary seeds. The scheme was launched to encourage the farmers to produce certified seeds. ‘Akthi Beej Samvardhan Yojana’ was launched in 2009-10. In the current year, subsidy will be given for paddy, ragi and wheat certified seeds. In 2009-10 , the initial year, 1.56 lakh quintal of certified seeds of paddy was produced. About 93,992 quintal seeds were distributed to the farmers.
In 2013-14 , about 6.8 lakh quintal certified seeds of paddy were produced and 2.19 lakh quintal certified seeds were distributed to the farmers. There was an increase in 288 per cent in production of certified seeds and 134 per cent increase in certified seeds distribution to the farmers during the past five years.
The target is to produce 10.8 lakh quintal certified seeds in 2015-16, 11.15 lakh quintal in 2016-17, 11.95 lakh quintal in 2017-18, 13 lakh quintal certified seeds in 2018-19. In August last year, the State Government distributed over 7 lakh quintal certified seeds of different crops including paddy, maize, kodo-kutki, raagi, arhar, urad, moong, kulthi, soyabean, groundnut, til, ramtil, sunflower, san and dhencha to farmers during the Kharif season.
According to the officers of agriculture department, 39,487 quintal seeds were distributed to the farmers of Raipur district, whereas, 31,818 quintal to Balodabazar-Bhattapara, 28,243 quintal to Gariyaband, 51,453 quintal to Mahasamund and 33,411 quintal to Dhamtari district. Similarly, 34,873 quintal seeds were given away to the farmers of Durg district, 20,607 quintal to Balod, 39,853 quintal to Bemetara, 44,318 quintal to Rajnandgaon, 15,797 quintal to Kabirdham, 19,401 quintal to Bilaspur, 20,132 quintal to Mungeli, 62,707 quintal to Janjgir-Champa, 13,759 quintal to Korba, 69,049 quintal to Raigarh, 16,840 quintal to Jashpur, 19,239 quintal to Surguja, 11,000 quintal to Surajpur, 18,470 quintal to Korea and 13,697 quintal seeds to the farmers of Balarampur district.
The officers said that 40,266 quintal seeds were given away to the farmers of Bastar district, 11,148 quintal to Kondagaon, 3,221 quintal to Dantewada, 4,566 quintal to Sukma, 5,838 quintal to Bijapur, 7,382 quintal to Narayanpur and 23,622 quintal to Kanker district. According to the officers, out of the total 7,00,217 quintal seeds distributed to the farmers of the State, 6,06,662 quintals were of paddy seeds. Besides, 21,506 quintal Maize, 140 quintal Kodo-kutki, 314 quintal Raagi, 5,572 quintal Arhar, 3,380 quintal Urad, 1,408 quintal Moong, 52,614 quintal Soyabean, 1,087 quintal Groundnut, 334 quintal Til, 203 quintal Ramtil and 6,994 quintal San and Dhencha certified seeds have been distributed in this season.
The State agriculture department has also been advising Chhattisgarh’s farmers to use ‘Seed Drill Technology’ for sowing of paddy, maize, urad and moong crops for a good yield. The farmers have been advised to postpone the sowing of soybean crops for now in view of the delayed monsoons. The officers of agriculture department said that appropriate chemicals should be used to check weeds in various crops.
For sugarcane crops, ploughing and levelling should be done after appropriate amount of fertiliser is used to prepare the soil. To prevent diseases in crops, the treatment of seeds should be done before sowing, they advised. This apart, the Chhattisgarh Government has already embarked on an ‘Organic Farming Mission’ on an experimental basis in five districts of the State namely Kanker, Koriya, Raigarh, Raipur and Dantewada, officials said.
The National Agriculture Development Scheme is being implemented since year 2007-08 with objectives of expanding cultivation area of fruits, vegetables and spice crops and supplying advanced high-quality seeds to farmers. Earlier under Shakhambari Scheme, subsidy was provided for only electricity and diesel based irrigation pumps but now farmers using petrol based irrigation pumps are also eligible for availing subsidy under this scheme, they stated.
The State Government’s ‘Kisaan Samriddhi Yojana’ has also proved to be a boon for farmers. Under this scheme, farmers are provided section-wise grant for tube-well digging. More than 75,000 farmers have been benefited under the scheme. State Government is operating number of other schemes, which have proved extremely beneficial for the farmers.
Besides cultivation, animal husbandry and fishery are the additional source of income for farmers. Hence, State Government has included animal husbandry and fishery under its all-round agricultural development policy. With the help of Government schemes, large number of farmers has taken up employment-oriented activities to march ahead on the path of progress.
To encourage farmers practicing traditional animal husbandry, State Government started the scheme of providing loan upto Rs1 lakh at one per cent interest rate from the previous year. This year, the loan amount has been increased to Rs2 lakh. Kamdhenu University has been established for development of animal husbandry. Moreover, several schemes have also been started to promote fishery. Chhattisgarh has become self-dependent in supply of fish seeds. In 2013-14, fish seeds worth 1.22 crores were produced, officials stated.
More than two lakh fishermen have been provided employment opportunities through development of 94 per cent of the total area of 1.63 lakh hectares available in the State for fisheries. Fishermen Welfare Board has been constituted. First fishery university has been established in Kawardha headquarters of Kabeerdham district.
One of the significant decisions in farmers’ interest taken by State Government is the zero-interest agricultural loan scheme, which has been implemented in the current financial year. Under this scheme, State Government has provided interest-free agricultural loans worth Rs2438 crores in Kharif 2014 to more than 10.40 lakh farmers in the State, who are members of Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies. Distribution of interest-free loans under the scheme for Rabi 2014 has also been started.
In the current financial year 2014-15, budget provision of Rs8,459 crores has been included for agriculture and agro-based sectors. In 2012, the State Government had launched the ‘Akshay Bhoomi Yojna’ with the commemoration of the anniversary of noted thinker late Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. The organic farming initiative was launched through the Agriculture Department Under the ‘Akshay Bhumi Yojna’ the farmers are provided necessary elements to support organic farming such as Gobar (Cow Dung), Go Mutra (Cow’s urine), Ghurwa Khad, Nadep Compost, Vermi Compost, Rajyobiyum, P.S.B. Ajectovector, Anjola, Neel Harit Card.
Moreover, at the time of State formation, only 72,000 farmers in Chhattisgarh had electricity connection for their irrigation pumps. But in last one decade, a special campaign for electrification of irrigation pumps was launched. As a result, the number of electrified irrigation pumps has increased to nearly 3.40 lakh.