Agriculture Minister Badal today said that the State Government has announced to procure paddy from farmers at the rate of `2,000 per quintal and the farmers will get 50 per cent of the amount of their produce immediately.
Badal said that the State Government is committed to make farmers self-reliant. The Agriculture Minister said this during the Kharif Seed Distribution Programme organised at Ramkrishna Ashram in the State Capital on Thursday. Seeds of Kharif crops were distributed among 100 farmers on the occasion. He said that the Government is going to do the work of waiving the loans of farmers of the State for the benefit of farmers at Rs 1. For this, the State Government is giving a grant amount of `2,000 crore.
Badal said that and after checking the quality of the paddy given by them to LAMPS and PACS, all their money will be paid to them without any delay. This will prevent farmers from selling their produce to middlemen, he added.
The Agriculture Minister said that farmers have to become aware of the benefit of the schemes being undertaken by the Government, it is in the priorities of the Government to end the work of middlemen. He said that the Government is working by creating an agricultural calendar in which May 25 will be celebrated as Seed Day so that all the assistance given by the Government to farmers can be provided at the right time. He said that the State Government is preparing MSP for export of vegetables. Badal also talked about the concept of creation of the Chamber of Farmers on the lines of Chamber of Commerce.
Speaking on the occasion, Agriculture Secretary, Abu Baqr Siddiqui said that agriculture is an important part in the development of the Country and it makes a major contribution to employment and GDP. He said that the farmers have to become aware and they have to ask the concerned people why the seed did not reach them on time, why they did not get subsidy, they have to be alert and aware so that the middlemen do not eat their share of the grant.
Addressing the gathering Director, Agriculture, Nisha Oraon Singhmar informed about various schemes run by the department. She said that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund under this scheme, subsidy and loan has been made available to farmers for warehousing, cold storage and others so that farmers could maintain their products properly and they get fair prices. Director, Agricultural Horticulture, Varun Ranjan said to make farmers aware of new technologies and organic farming in agriculture.