Patna: Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said the central government is making efforts to ensure timely and adequate availability of fertilisers, and increase per-hectare agricultural productivity.
Chouhan was speaking at an event here on the occasion of the release of the 20th installment of the PM KISAN Samman Nidhi.
“The interest of the country’s farmers is of paramount for us. Serving farmers as the agriculture minister is like worshiping God for me. Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy and farmers are its soul,” he said.
He emphasised efforts to increase per-hectare agricultural productivity, especially in low-yield regions, through initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhaanya Yojana.
Chouhan also assured farmers of timely and adequate availability of fertilisers and pesticides, and underscored various schemes aimed at compensating crop losses.
“The direction of research in the agriculture sector will now be determined not from Delhi, but from villages and farmers’ fields. Our prime minister’s commitment is to make farming more profitable,” he said.
“Under the PM KISAN scheme, more than Rs 3.77 lakh crore has already been directly transferred into farmers’ accounts,” the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said.
He also highlighted Bihar’s significant contribution to ‘makhana’ (fox nut) production, and the continuous efforts to bridge the gap between agricultural science and farming practices.
Crops are now procured at the minimum support price (MSP), which includes a 50-per cent profit margin over the cost of production, “reflecting the government’s farmer-centric approach”, Chouhan said.
Chouhan said the central government is taking steps to ensure that financial aid reaches farmers’ bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mechanism.
“For example, earlier, when Rs 1 was sent, only a part of it reached the farmer. Now, the entire amount goes to the farmer,” he said.
Lauding Bihar’s legacy of knowledge, he added, “The hardworking people of this state are unparalleled. This is the land that witnessed Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha, which gave a new direction to India’s freedom struggle.”
