Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal has said that the State Government and the concerned authorities had been successful in providing sufficient quantity of seeds and fertilisers to the farmers during the current Kharif season.
Agrawal said that the farmers had been provided with seeds and fertilisers in the months of April and May for the first time.
He said that special policies had been implemented to increase the production of seeds. There is 28 per cent increase in the production of seeds of various crops during the past ten years.
In the year 2003-04, the Seeds Production Programme had been carried on 6,400 hectares of land during the Kharif and Rabi season and this had been increased to 55 685 hectares in the year 2014-2015.
Adequate facilities have been provided to cater to the demand of farmers for the seeds. About 13.03 lakh quintal Aadhar seeds were produced in the year 2014-15.
The Agriculture Department had distributed 4.42 lakh quintal seeds to the farmers. About 73,000 quintal seeds are available with the Co-operative societies. loans worth Rs 1,708 crore interest -free loans had been distributed to the farmers. Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said that the consumption of chemical fertilizers had increased manifold in Chhattisgarh due to the active interest shown by the State Government.
There is a growing demand for fertilizers in the State. The State authorities had decided to allot the chemical fertilizers from April-May itself.
Agrawal said that the target is to give Rs 2650 crore interest-free loans during the current Kharif season. About Rs 1,700 crore loans had been already distributed to the farmers. He said several schemes had been implemented to bring extra acreage under irrigation and cultivation. There is an increase of about seven-and-a- half-lakh hectares of land which was brought under irrigation facilities during the past ten years.
The farmers are being encouraged to adopt modern technology to increase farm produce. Financial assistance is provided to establish Krishi Yantra Sewa Kendras. The Kendras give modern agricultural implements on a rental basis to the farmers.
During the past four years, a total of 422 Krishi Yantra Sewa Kendras have been opened to help the farmers. In the current year 186 new Kendras will be opened.
Agrawal said that there is a significant increase in the production of paddy, pulses and oil seeds during the past ten years.
He said that National Agriculture Insurance Scheme had been launched this year.
Notably, about 5.35 lakh quintal certified seeds had been distributed to the farmers of Chhattisgarh during the current Kharif season (2015-16), officials stated.
The seeds include paddy, Soyabean , Arhar, Udad and other crops.
The Agriculture Department officers said that that 4.82 lakh quintal paddy , 36,870 quintal Soyabean , 2520 quintal Arhar , 1658 quintal Udad and Moong and 11,927 quintal seeds of other crops' seeds had been distributed to the farmers of the State.
There is an increase of two per cent seeds' distribution than that of last year.
The officials said that mini-kits are being distributed to farmers to popularize the new types of seeds.
