| Rs 20,946 crore released to over 10 crore farmers under PM-KISAN scheme | | | Agencies
New Delhi, Jan 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday released ₹ 20,946 crore to 10.09 crore farmers across India as the 10th installment of financial aid under the PM-KISAN scheme and said there was a need for innovation in agriculture along with promotion of natural farming.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, a financial benefit of ₹ 6,000 per year is provided to the eligible farmer families, payable in three equal installments of ₹ 2,000. The PM-KISAN scheme was announced in the February 2019 Budget. The first installment was for the period December 2018 to March 2019
Addressing a virtual event for release of the amount, PM Modi said that the scheme is a big support for farmers and the Centre has transferred all installments on time directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries, without any involvement of middlemen.
Nobody would have thought that India could achieve such a feat, he said.
“If we include today’s transfer, more than ₹ 1.8 lakh crore has been transferred directly to the accounts of the farmers under the PM-KISAN,” he said, adding that the scheme has helped farmers in buying good quality seeds and fertilisers. On the occasion, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said around ₹ 20,900 crore is being transferred to about 10.09 crore beneficiaries.
The event was attended by as many as nine chief ministers, several ministers from different states, and representatives of agricultural institutions.
The Prime Minister also released an equity grant of more than ₹ 14 crore to about 351 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), benefiting 1.24 lakh farmers. He said small farmers are feeling the power of collective strength with setting up of FPOs as he listed out five benefits of FPOs for small farmers -- increased bargaining power, scale, innovation, risk management and adaptability to the market conditions. Through FPOs, farmers are now able to buy inputs wholesale and sell their agri produce at retail.
The government is promoting FPOs at every level and they are getting help of up to ₹ 15 lakh. As a result, organic FPOs, oilseed FPOs, bamboo clusters and Honey FPOs are coming up.
“Today, our farmers are benefitting from the schemes like ‘One District One Products’ and markets, both nation and global, are opening for them,” PM Modi said.
Pointing out that the country is still importing many commodities which Indian farmers can easily fulfil, PM Modi said edible oil is one such example and a lot of foreign exchange gets invested for that.
PM Modi highlighted that the National Palm Oil Mission has been launched with a budget of ₹ 11,000 crore aimed at reducing imports of cooking oils.
Talking about achievements in the agriculture sector in recent years, he said the foodgrains production has touched 300 million tonnes despite the pandemic.
Horticulture and floriculture production has reached 330 million tonnes. Milk production also increased almost 45 per cent in the last 6-7 years.
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