Jaipur, 30 June. Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Lalchand Kataria said that making farmers happy and prosperous is the main objective of the state government. With this objective, Rajasthan has set an example across the country by presenting a separate agriculture budget for the second time. For the effective implementation of new schemes for the farmers in the agriculture budget, 12 agricultural missions have been started.
The Agriculture Minister was addressing the inauguration ceremony of the two-day divisional-level agriculture festival at Agriculture University, Mandore, Jodhpur on Friday. Kataria said that after organizing the state-level Kisan Mahotsav, farmers are being informed about advanced methods in the agriculture sector by organizing Kisan Mahotsav at the divisional level as well so that they can take advantage of agricultural production.
Kataria said that farmers should adopt innovations in the agriculture sector. This will increase agricultural production as well as quality. He said that along with millets production, our state is at the top position in milk production as well.
The Agriculture Minister said that the state government is working dedicatedly for the welfare of farmers. The amount of the Farmers Welfare Fund has been increased to Rs 7 thousand 500 crore. Due to which the farmers will be benefited more. He said that 2000 units of electricity are being provided free of cost to the farmers every month, which will strengthen their economic condition along with providing relief from inflation.
Opened 49 new agriculture colleges
Kataria said that the state government has opened 49 agriculture colleges in four and a half years to promote agriculture education in the state. In agriculture education, the incentive amount for girl students has been increased to Rs 15,000 at the senior secondary level, Rs 25,000 for graduate and post-graduate and Ph.D. 40 thousand rupees per year has been made for the girl students studying in M.P.
He said that the state government has distributed crop insurance claims worth Rs 18 thousand 500 crore in the last four years to compensate for the damages caused to the crops due to natural calamities like heavy rains, and hailstorms.
Cattle herders are getting support
The Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister said that in order to promote animal husbandry in the state, under the Kamdhenu Animal Insurance Scheme, registration is being done in dearness relief camps for free insurance of Rs. In order to strengthen the economic condition of cattle herders, the grant amount has been increased from Rs. 2 to Rs. 5 per liter under Milk Production Sambal Yojana.
Kataria said that the state government has taken a unique initiative in the direction of conservation and promotion of camel. Under this, to encourage camel breeding, an incentive amount of Rs. 5-5 thousand is being given in two installments to the cattle herders on the birth of todies.
Before this, the Agriculture Minister performed cow worship and visited the agricultural exhibition and smart farm. Kataria gave checks of Rs. 2 lahks each to the relatives of the farmers who died while doing agriculture work under the Rajiv Gandhi Krishak Sathi Sahayata Yojana. Along with this, the check of capital grant amount was also distributed by the state government for setting up new industries under the State Agricultural Processing, Agribusiness, and Agricultural Export Promotion Policy-2019.
Minister of State for Agricultural Marketing, Murarilal Meena said that to make the state a hub for agro-processed products, the Agricultural Processing, Agri-business, and Agricultural Export Promotion Policy-2019 has been implemented, in which farmers and non-agriculturists will get 75 percent funding respectively for agricultural product processing. And a 50 percent subsidy is being given.
On this occasion, MLA Luni Mahendra Vishnoi, Independent Director of RIICO Sunil Parihar, Government Secretary Agriculture Dr. Prithvi, Divisional Commissioner Kailash Chand Meena, Commissioner Agriculture Gaurav Agarwal, Jodhpur District Collector Himanshu Gupta, Vice Chancellor Agriculture University Jodhpur B. .R. Chowdhary, Bikaner Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Arun Singh, Director Animal Husbandry Dr. Bhavani Singh along with public representatives, senior officials, farmers and general public were present.
