Four-time chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday took charge of the Union agriculture ministry and announced that all measures initiated in the last decade to boost farmers’ income will be expedited.
“Welfare of the farmers remains a key priority and growth in agriculture will strengthen the Indian economy,” Chouhan said. He held meeting with all the officials of the agri-ministry and handed over to them the BJP’s manifesto which had promised steps to boosting farmers income
Stating that farmers feel the granaries and agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy, he said all measures initiated in the last decade to boost farmers’ income will be expedited. The agriculture ministry will start working on the BJP’s manifesto which had a range of promises aimed at making the agriculture sector remunerative, but was silent on an earlier promise to double farmers’ income.
With the theme of empowering farmers and boosting the fisheries sector, BJP in its manifesto referred as Sankalp Patra included a range of promises aimed at making the agriculture sector remunerative, but was silent on an earlier promise to double farmers’ income.
The NDA government in the budget for FY27 had announced doubling farmers’ income by 2022. However, there is no official statement on increase in income of farming communities so far. However, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand had stated several states –Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have achieved the target of doubling farmers income.
The BJP promised to strive for self-sufficiency in production of pulses varieties like tur, urad, masoor, moong and chana, and edible oil production such as mustard, soybean, til and groundnut. It also promised to expand access and encourage adoption of nano-urea, which has an efficiency level of 90% compared with around 40% of conventional urea.
The document also moots strengthening the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) through the use of technology for accurate assessment of crop losses and faster payouts. Under PMFBY, currently implemented in 22 states and UTs, farmers pay a fixed premium of just 1.5% of the sum insured for rabi crops, 2% for kharif, and 5% for cash crops.
Chouhan, who won from Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency with over 0.8 million votes and during his tenure as Chief Minister, the agriculture GDP of Madhya Pradesh grew an average 7% annually during 2005-6 to 2022-23, faster than the national average of 3.8%. Because of setting up a robust procurement system for wheat, Madhya Pradesh has been the second biggest contributor of grain in the central pool after Punjab for the last many years. Madhya Pradesh has also emerged one of the biggest producers of onions, chana (gram) and moong in the last decade.
Joshi assumes charge
Pralhad Joshi taking charge of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution said on Tuesday that the key priority would be to implement activities identified by former food minister Piyush Goyal as part of 100 days agenda.
“I am grateful that the Prime Minister has given me the opportunity to serve in this Ministry that is directly related to serving 800 million Indians through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.” Joshi said.
The biggest challenge of the ministries of consumer affairs and public distribution would be to initiate measures to bring down prices of cereals, pulses and vegetables which have overbearing on the rise in food inflation.