Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh showcased the achievements of his Ministry of the past one and half years before media in Delhi. He was accompanied by junior ministers and top officials of the Ministry in the media interaction attended by a large number of journalists.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said our production is only half compared to worldwide production per hectare. Productivity and production could not be improved till the quality of land improves. Therefore, it is decided to provide Soil Health Card to 14 crore farmers of the country and this programme has started: 5 crore farmers will be provided with soil heath cards in 2015-16 and the balance will be covered in 2016-17, Singh said.
“There was no scheme to promote organic farming. New scheme called Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana started in 2015-16 has been allocated Rs. 300 crore. So far 8000 clusters have been farmed”, Minister said.
In the press conference Singh touched upon various schemes launched by the NDA govt such as Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) launched with an allocation of Rs. 5300 crore for the current year, National Agriculture Market Scheme (NAM) launched to connect market places across the country, changes in the norms for compensation to be paid to the disaster affected farmers from minimum affected area from 50% to now 30% and sundry other schemes.
Contrasting his govt with the UPA , Singh said while the congress government did not purchase grain hit by hailstorm, the Modi government has provided full support price to such cereals. This has been a historic decision, he added.
Other achievements included introduction of neem-coated urea, honey bee development, opening of National Breeding Centres, etc, the minister said.