NEW DELHI: Coinciding with the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched two major agricultural schemes with a cumulative outlay of Rs 35,440 crore.
He also appealed to the farmers to increase production to meet domestic and global demand. Launching the schemes at Pusa campus, the Prime Minister noted that farmers have a critical role to play in realising the vision of a developed India (Viksit Bharat) by 2047.
The two schemes, Rs 24,000-crore Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY) and a Rs 11,440-crore Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses are aimed at “changing the fate of millions of farmers”.
The PM-DDKY aims to transform 100 low-performing agricultural districts based on the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) model. The scheme will focus on enhancing crop productivity, promoting crop diversification, improving irrigation and storage facilities, and ensuring credit access in the selected districts.
In view of the new pulses mission, PM Modi urged farmers to increase cultivation acreage by 35 lakh hectares by 2030 to boost production and achieve self-reliance, targeting to raise production from the current 252.38 lakh tonne to 350 lakh tonnes by 2030-31, thereby reducing import dependency.
Meanwhile, attacking the previous Congress government, the Prime Minister accused it of “neglecting” the farm sector, saying the Opposition party lacked “vision” for the crucial sector’s growth.
He also highlighted various measures taken over the last 11 years for the overall development of the agriculture and allied sectors. “In the interest of farmers, we have taken several reforms,” he said.
Outlining achievements made during his government’s tenure, PM Modi said farm exports have doubled, foodgrain production has increased by 900 lakh tonnes, and fruits and vegetables production has risen by 640 lakh tonne.
He also noted that the recent reduction in goods and services tax (GST) rates has benefited rural India and farmers the most, with prices of farm machinery like tractors coming down.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated projects valued at over Rs 5,450 crore in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing sectors, while laying the foundation stone for additional projects worth around Rs 815 crore.
These projects included Artificial Insemination Training Center at Bengaluru and in Jammu & Kashmir; Centre of Excellence at Amreli and Banas; Establishment of IVF Lab in Assam under Rashtriya Gokul Mission; Milk Powder Plants at Mehsana, Indore and Bhilwara; Fish Feed Plant under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana at Tezpur, Assam; Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Integrated Cold Chain, and Value Addition Infrastructure, among others.
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for several projects, including Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure (Irradiation) in Krishna, Andhra Pradesh; Trout Fisheries in Uttarakhand; Integrated Aqua Park in Nagaland; Smart and Integrated Fishing Harbour in Karaikal, Puducherry; and State-of-the-art Integrated Aquapark in Hirakud, Odisha, among others.
Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary were present during the event.
