With the motto of “One World, One Family, One Future” the farmers of the state are being encouraged to cultivate millets. Besides, various programs have been undertaken across the country as well as the state to include millet national food in our diet. The Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department Apurba Roy informed this in a press conference organized in the press conference hall of the secretariat yesterday. In the press conference, the secretary informed that according to India’s proposal and with the support of 72 countries of the world, the United Nations has declared the year 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’. The main objective of this is to encourage farmers to grow Shree Anna, to include Shree Anna in people’s diets, and to create greater awareness about its benefits. He said that various types of Shree Anna are being cultivated in 1300 hectares of land in the state. To encourage the farmers of the state in Shree Anna cultivation, a plan has been taken up for the cultivation of Shree Anna on another 700 hectares of land i.e. a total of 2000 hectares of land in the financial year 2023-24. In the implementation of the plan, various awareness programmes have been taken up, starting from training camps and workshops, meetings between farmers and scientists, demonstration of cultivation, distribution of mini seeds kit, road shows, publicity booklets distribution, publicity through different types of print and electronic media, planning of district-level Shree Anna Mela and leaflets distribution on scientific cultivation of Shree Anna at district and sub-division levels in the state in the financial year 2023-24.
The Secretary of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department said that the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department is working tirelessly to make the state self-sufficient in food grain production and double the income of the farmers of the state. He said that the total number of farmers in the state is 4 lakh 72 thousand. Among them, the number of farmers owning land is 3 lakh 13 thousand people, the number of farmers who have got patta is 1 lakh 22 thousand and the number of landless farmers is 37 thousand. At present, the total cultivable land in the state is 2 lakh 55 thousand hectares. Out of this, the land under irrigation is 1 lakh 11 thousand hectares.
The Secretary informed that the present state government has given a total of 41 crore 85 lakhs rupees as subsidy to the farmers in the last 5 years for timely distribution of fertilizer, seed and transportation costs. He informed that under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, 553 crores 16 lakh rupees have been provided as support to 2 lakh 40 thousand 193 farmers in the state. He informed that the state government launched “Mukhyamantri Fasal Bima Yojana” as a supplementary scheme in the state from 2022-21 to bring most of the paddy farmers of the state under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Earlier, where every farmer had to pay a premium of 220 rupees, now farmers are getting insurance with a premium of just 10 rupees per Kani. The state government is bearing a premium of 210 rupees per Kani. For this, a total of 20 crore 83 lakhs rupees has been provided as support and subsidy from the state budget in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. 10, 08, 06 farmers have benefited.
The Secretary informed that from 2018 to 2022, a total of 1 lakh 70 thousand metric tons of paddy was purchased from the farmers of the state through the department. A total of 325 crores 56 lakh rupees has been deposited in the accounts of 88,840 farmers. He informed that the department has decided to establish Krishak Bandhu Kendra in each agricultural sub-division of the state to provide various support to the farmers of the state including training on various agricultural matters. A total of 32 Krishak Bandhu Kendras have been launched so far.
The Secretary informed that 28 thousand 800 different types of modern agricultural equipments have been distributed among the farmers through the department in the last 5 years . Also, a total of 1 lakh 50 thousand 544 soil health cards have been distributed among the farmers of the state in the last 5 years.
The Secretary informed that organic farming is currently being done in a total area of 21,000 hectares in the state. This was only 2000 hectares of land in 2017-18. Currently, the number of organic farmers in the state is 17 thousand 887. He informed that the state government is working on a plan to double the income of the farmers of the state. As a result, the average monthly income of farmers in the state has increased to 11 thousand 96 rupees in the financial year 2020-21.
Highlighting the success of the Horticulture Department in the press conference, the Secretary informed that the department is working with importance on Sobri banana cultivation in the state. For the next five financial years 2023-24 to 2027-28, a plan has been taken to produce 1 lakh 50 thousand sobri bananas using Embryogenic Cell Suspension (ECS) method. He informed that 17.71 metric tons of potatoes are currently being produced per hectare in the state. The department is working on plans to increase potato production in the coming days. The Secretary said that the Horticulture Department has given importance to increasing the production of dragon fruit in the state. At present 520 farmers are cultivating dragon fruit in 78 hectares of land in the state. The NEC programme plans to cultivate dragon fruit on another 50 hectares of land during the financial year 2023-24. He informed that under Mukhyamantri Swanibhar Parivar Yojana, a target has been taken to provide various assistance in the three fiscal years from 2021-22 to 2023-24 to increase the income of farmers through the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. The Secretary also informed that 58 lakhs 62 thousand different agricultural equipments have been distributed to 3 lakh 12 thousand families for fruit and vegetable cultivation in the financial year 2021-22 to 2022-23. Director of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department Sharadindu Das and Director of Horticulture Department Phanibhushan Jamatia were present at the press conference.
