NEW DELHI: Union Minister for agriculture and farmer welfare Radha Mohan Singh on Monday said that the Narendra Modi government is working with the objective to herald “evergreen revolution” in the country.
The minister hoped that the Monsoon this year would be good, which would help the farm sector to achieve better growth rate, while productions touching a new high.
Stating that the agrarian growth last year had been 4.4 per cent, Singh said that the Monsoon rains, which would be normal as forecast by the metrological department, would help the growth figure to be much higher in the current financial year.
He added that the foodgrains productions at 273.38 million tonnes in the last financial year had been a record high. The minister also stated that India is on course to become self reliant in the productions of pulses.
While India registered a bumper crop of pulses, which touched 22 million tonnes, the government was able to check the prices of lentils, which in 2015-16 had run away over the roof.
The minister claimed that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) has been a successful initiative, as almost 30 per cent of the farmers have come under the crop insurance cover with low premium rates.
He added that earlier crop insurance used to be availed only by those farmers who used to take loans, but now the non-loanee farmers have taken the benefits in a large number.
Singh also stated that the flagship programme of the Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojna has brought about 8.50 lakh hectares of land under irrigation in the current financial year.