Saturday, March 24, 2018
  • Chandigarh, March 24: The Haryana Horticulture Department today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with International Potato Centre (CIP) in the area of Potato on the first day of three-day Agri Leadership Summit 2018, in Rohtak today. The MOU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal and Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Parshottam Rupala. 
  • While Dr. Samarendu Mohanty, Asia Regional Director signed MOU on behalf of CIP, Director General Horticulture, Dr Arjun Singh Saini signed on behalf of the State Government. 
  • This Joint Initiative will help in selection of short duration early heat tolerant virus resistant varieties including processable varieties. Besides, it will also help in multiplication of clean, disease free planting material and to develop potato value chain and markets in India. The CIP will provide training and capacity building of extension officers and progressive farmers.
  • Chandigarh, March 24—The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, today criticized the Opposition parties for misguiding the farmers on the issue of Swaminathan Commission Report and said the present state government had implemented maximum recommendations of the report in the interest of the farming community.
  • So much so, even Mr Swaminathan has expressed satisfaction over the efforts made by the state government to implement the recommendations of his report, Mr Manohar Lal said while addressing a largely attended gathering after inaugurating the 3rd consecutive Agri Leadership Summit-2018 in Rohtak, today.
  • He said the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, remained chairman of the working group of Chief Ministers on Agriculture Production but did nothing to implement the Swaminathan Report, which contained 28 points. This is despite the fact that he remained Chief Minister up to 2014 and Congress was also in power at the Centre.  
  • Starting his speech with the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, the Chief Minister said the farmer of Haryana is progressive and in a better position as compared to his counterparts in other states of the country. The present government is committed to the welfare of farmers and is doing evertything to improve their standards of living.
  • In agriculture, neither the cost of production nor the benefit lies in the hands of the farmers. The Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, has announced that from the next year minimum support prices (MSPs) for all notified crops would be at least 1.5 times their cost of production. The price of sugarcane in Haryana is the highest in the country, he added.
  • The Chief Minister said in order to cover the risk factor involved in agriculture, the state government had taken several steps. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) has been implemented under which eight different crops are being covered. Apart from this, the state government has implemented the Bhavantar Bharpayi Yojna to cover the losses of the farmers.
  • The main objective of this scheme is to ensure that farmers do not face any loss on the base price of their crops, he said adding that initially four crops, including potato, onion, tomato and cauliflower, had been included in this scheme.
  • The state government has taken care of other crops also and constituted a separate Kisan Kalyan Pradhikaran. In case the farmers suffer any loss, it would be compensated by this Pradhikaran. He assured the farmers that in no circumstances they would have to throw their produce on the roads.
  • Mr Manohar Lal said his government had made available adequate water for irrigation. It is for the first time in the last 25 to 30 years that water has reached 292 tail-ends in southern Haryana.  Water would also reach the remaining seven tail-ends this year, he said adding that the previous government used the farmers only as a vote bank only.  
  • He exhorted the farmers to produce alternate crops instead of the traditional wheat and rice as these required comparatively less water. They should also use drip and sprinkler irrigation. Out of the 14 pilot projects of micro irrigation envisaged by the present government, eight are being implemented in the state. 
  • Now, it has been decided to produce solar power from pond water and use it for irrigation purposes. Out of the total 14,000 ponds, about 6,000 ponds are overflowing and the water of these ponds would be tapped for generating solar power, he added.
  • The Chief Minister said the Agri Leadership Summit had been organized not for the farmers only but for all those related to agriculture. He urged the progressive farmers to apprise at least ten other farmers of their area about the welfare schemes of the Centre and the state governments so that they could also increase their income. Each district has 50 to 200 progressive farmers and they earn Rs 1 lakh per month per acre, he added.
  • Speaking on the occasion, the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr O.P Dhankar, said the state government was implementing the concept of Peri-urban farming to meet the growing demand of vegetables, fruits, milk and flowers of four crore people of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR).  
  • He urged the farmers to link with market and directly sell their produce to the consumers as this would help them increase their income. The government has a plan to set up Kisan Bazar in all towns of the state.
  • Eleven centres of excellence have been set up in the state with the assistance of Israel. There is no dearth of funds with the government for agriculture sector and provision of Rs 510 crore has been made in the Budget for setting up of Bagwani villages in the state. Similarly, the budget of the Fisheries Department which was Rs 5 crore earlier has now been increased to Rs 150 crore, Mr Dhankar said. 
  • The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr Krishan Kumar, said earlier the sugarcane farmers did not get payment for four years but today payment of not even a single farmer is outstanding. He assured the farmers that under the able leadership of the Chief Minister, their interests are completely safe and secure.
  • The BJP State President, Mr Subhash Barala, asked the farmers to take inspiration from their progressive brethren and adopt horticulture, floriculture and other cash crops to enhance their income. The present state government has ensured water even in those areas of Mahendergarh-Narnaul which remained deprived of it for the last several decades.  
  • The state government has given compensation at the rate of Rs 12,000 per acre on account of damage to crops due to natural calamities which is more than the amount of Rs 10,000 recommended by the Swaminathan report, he added.
  • Chandigarh, March 24- On the inaugural day of three-day Agri Leadership Summit 2018 which commenced in Rohtak today, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal honoured progressive farmers and agriculture organizations by giving away cash prize worth Rs 1.51 lakh and certificates. The Chief Minister was also accompanied by Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Parshottam Rupala and Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr O.P Dhankar.
  • While Anandvir of Fatehabad was honoured with Fal (Fruit) Ratan, Chand Singh of Gurugram was honoured with Sabzi Ratan,  Krishan Pal of Yamunanagar with Phool (Flower) Ratan,  Sultan Singh of Kurukshetra with Mushroom Ratan, Harbir Singh of village Dadul, Kurukshetra with Nursery Ratan, Mukesh Soni of Hisar with Osdeeye (Medicinal) Ratan,  Vinay Kumar of Jhajjar with Masala (Spices) Ratan, Aashish Gupta of village Bajidpur, Sonipat, Vinit Gupta of Panchkula and Anil Singh of Jind were been honoured with Udmi (Entrepreneur) Ratan award.
  • Those who were honoured  with Rs 51,000, memento and citation included Rampartap of Panipat, Ombir Singh of Palwal, Raman Sood of Gurugram, Mrs Bhavna Devi of Narnaul, Ashwani Saraf of Panchkula, Narendra of Fatehabad, Bhim Singh Dagar of Jhajjar,  Ijharul Hasan of Nuh, Rajesh  Kumar of Rohtak, Sukhvir of Faridabad,  Surender Singh of Hisar, Gurmel Singh of Kurukshetra, Rajbir of Jind, Vikas of Rewari, Sandeep of Karnal, Virender Kumar Mehta of Kaithal, Mahender of Charkhi Dadri, Sunil of Bhiwani, Manoj Kumar of Sirsa, Surender Sharma of Ambala, Dinesh Kumar of Sonipat and  Angrej Singh of Yamunanagar. Ranbir Singh of Palwal was honoured with award of best horticulture farmer. Similarly, Inderjit Singh of Hisar, Dr. Vinod Beniwal, Sandip of Bhiwani, Gaurav of Ambala and Anil of Jind were honoured with best progressive Food Producer Organization (FPO).
  • The Chief Minister also honoured Vedpal of Jhajjar and Vikas Duhan of Rohtak  with Matsya Ratan. Among the  progressive farmers who were honoured on this occasion included Sultan Singh of Karnal, Balwan Singh of Rohtak, Vajir Singh of Sonipat, Mukesh Kumar of Gurugram, Mumtaj of Narnaul, Pratap Singh of Faridabad, Navinder Kumar of Hisar, Naresh Kumar of Sirsa, Prithvi Singh of Kurukshetra, Joginder Singh of Ambala, Kuldeep of Jind, Suresh of Bhiwani, Rakesh Kumar of Rewari, Kitab Singh of Kaithal, Rajender Kumar of Yamunanagar, Rajender of Panipat, Suresh of Jhajja, Krishan of Fatehabad, Manohar Lal of Panchkula, Abdul Razak of Palwal, Shahid of Mewat and Ombir Maharana of Charkhi Dadri.
  • Chandigarh, March 24--The Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Parshottam Rupala, has appreciated the Haryana Government, led by the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, for taking effective steps to realize the vision of the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, to double the income of farmers by 2022.
  • Mr Rupala was addressing a largely attended gathering on first day of the three-day Agri Leadership Summit-2018 in Rohtak, today. The Chief Minister was also present on this occasion.
  • Since agriculture is a state subject, the vision to double farmers’ income could only be achieved with the co-operation of all states. Haryana which is known for traditional farming of rice, wheat and sugarcane should also adopt allied agriculture activities like fish farming and bee-keeping to enhance their income.
  • Referring to the Minimum Support Price (MSP), Mr Rupala said the Central Government under the leadership of the Prime Minister, was the first government to announce that MSP of all notified crops would be at least 1.5 times their cost of production. Besides, to ensure that farmers at the grass-roots level get the benefit of MSP, a policy would be prepared in consultation with NITI Ayog.
  • The Union Minister said the Central Government had implemented various decisions, rules and Acts for the welfare of farming community besides making separate provision in the budget. While emphasizing the need for adopting peri-urban concept of farming besides farming, he hoped that export by the farmers of Haryana should be the maximum in the country.
  • He assured the Haryana Government all support and cooperation of his ministry for the promotion of agriculture in the state. By organizing the summit of agri leaders, Haryana has given a new direction not only to other states but also to the country, Mr Rupala added.
  • Earlier, speaking on this occasion, the Agriculture Minister of Bihar, Mr Prem Kumar, said under the leadership of Mr Manohar Lal, all-round development had been ensured in Haryana. Bihar is an agrarian state with about one crore population engaged in agriculture sector.  
  • Stating that the Union Budget has given focus to agriculture, he said the Prime Minister had taken a resolve to double the income of farmers by 2022. Besides, the Food Producer Organizations (FPOs) have been provided rebate on income tax. It is a matter of pride that Haryana has taken a lead in agriculture sector.
  • Mr Prem Kumar said both Haryana and Bihar should work together in areas of mutual interest for the progress of both states and also to realize the Prime Minister’s vision of building a new nation.