Chandigarh, April 26: The state of Haryana which is known as the ‘bread basket’ of India has diverse agro-ecology and cropping patterns. More than 60% of the export of Basmati Rice from India takes place from Haryana. Over the years, Haryana has pursued progressive policies for strengthening agriculture by enhancing investments, promoting research and development system, public distribution system, irrigation development, land acquisition policy, subsidies towards credit and power use, infrastructure like roads, market, power generation, and supply, etc.
It’s the result of these stern initiatives taken by the Haryana Government under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Sh Manohar Lal that Haryana has become one of the top three states, where the income of farmers has exceeded Rs 20,000 per month. According to the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), the monthly income of farmers in Haryana has gone up to Rs 22841. Earlier, it was Rs 14434. Haryana Government with its farmer-friendly initiatives, left behind other big states like UP where the farmers’ income has been registered to Rs 8061; likewise in Andhra Pradesh its Rs 10480; Rs 11492 in Maharashtra and Rs 8339 in Madhya Pradesh.
The adoption of such progressive state-of-the-art policies combined with a receptive farming community has contributed to very steady growth for the state in agriculture.
Chief Minister Sh Manohar Lal said, “Haryana is a state which procures 14 crops including wheat, paddy, barley, pearl millet, moong, groundnut, mustard, maize, urad, sesame, gram, tur, cotton, and sunflower at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). In the last four years, only by selling wheat and rice, the farmers here have earned Rs 102436 crore, which is commendable.”
The Chief Minister added that Haryana is among the first states in the country where various farmers’ welfare schemes are being implemented like Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana for horticulture etc. He said that the farmers of the state are getting remunerative prices for cotton, mustard, and wheat.
Big boost to organic farming in the state
It was in the year 2016 that Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi appealed to the states to work in the mission mode in the field of organic farming. Haryana Government took it seriously and charted out an effective platform to provide a big boost to organic farming in the state. The Government understood the risk that this particular sector holds and took effective steps in the favour of farmers.
It was recently announced by the government that to promote organic farming hugely, a separate wing in the agriculture department will be created. This wing will pay special attention to the quality and increase the productivity of food grains in the state. Besides this, for farmers, a training program would be chalked out and separate clusters will also be formed.
The Chief Minister said that the goal of the government is to improve agriculture and farmers should move towards zero budget farming and organic farming. In this year’s budget, the formation of 100 clusters of 25 acres each has been announced to promote organic farming in the state. Financial incentives for three years would be provided to the farmers adopting this farming, he said.
Motivating progressive farmers
Haryana Government is motivating the progressive farmers for adopting best agriculture practices in increasing income from agriculture and allied sectors for a contribution towards doubling farmers' income by 2022 as initiated by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi. Under this scheme, selected farmers are being facilitated by providing cash prizes /awards for their outstanding work in Agriculture/allied sectors. To motivate farmers for their contribution towards achieving high productivity of various agriculture crops as well as the adoption of new technologies such as water-saving, crop residue management, sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and integrated farming system practices, it has been decided that cash prizes /awards will be given to the achiever farmers on yearly basis.
Setting up of agri-business & information centers
These centers are being set up at all district headquarters mandis to provide information on the market, and agronomic practices and organize seminars, workshops, buyer-seller meets, etc. These centers also house the Agricultural Development Officers and provide regular training to farmers and help in improving the quality of the agricultural products. Two such centers have already been made functional at Sirsa and Hisar and it is proposed to set up centers in all district headquarters.
Farmers' markets to get better prices
To provide opportunities for the farmers for selling their produce directly to the consumers and realize better prices for the farmers, two farmers' markets at Panchkula and Gurugram are being set up. These farmers’ markets will also be a nodal point for the dissemination of information and providing technical inputs and know-how to the farmers in collaboration with the experts in agriculture/horticulture. It will also help the farmers to add value to their products by introducing quality controls and certification measures.