Rajasthan State PCS

• 15 Jul 2022

National Conference of Agriculture Ministers

Why in News?

On July 14, 2022, Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria addressed the National Conference of State Agriculture Ministers held under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in Bengaluru.

Key Points

• Speaking at the National Conference, Agriculture Minister Lalchand Kataria said that a separate budget for agriculture was presented by the Chief Minister with the vision of 'Prosperous Farmers Happy Rajasthan', in which the amount of Farmers Welfare Fund has been increased from Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.
• Insurance claims worth Rs.16,000 crore have been distributed to 1.50 lac eligible crop insurance policyholder farmers in the last three and a half years.
• Rajasthan is the first state in the country to distribute crop insurance policies from Kharif 2021. The Government of India has also directed all the States to follow suit.
• In the conference, the Agriculture Minister informed that 'Raj Kisan Saathi Portal' has been created by the department, which is working as a single window for farmers and agribusinessmen. In this, information about schemes run by all departments related to agriculture, grant-in-aid, license and registration etc. is available. So far, about Rs 700 crore has been transferred by DBT to the farmers through this portal.
• A provision of Rs 600 crore has been made in the agriculture budget for 'Rajasthan Organic Farming Mission', under which 3 lac 80 thousand hectare area will be increased. 120 Farmer Producer Organizations working in the state will be strengthened to promote agricultural marketing, processing and exports.
• He informed that all the agricultural produce markets of the state are being modernised. Equipment like Oil Testing Machine, Grain Physical Analyzer Machine and Weighing Scale Machine etc. have been installed in 136 market committees.
• To promote the use of Nano Urea (liquid) fertilizer, wide publicity is being done through district level workshops and farmer meetings. So far 17 lakh nano urea bottles have been distributed in the state.
• The Agriculture Minister informed that 'Rajasthan Millet Promotion Mission' has been started to promote value addition of Bajra, Jowar and other small millets. With a view to encourage this and to provide latest technical information, a Center of Excellence for Millets will be established under Jodhpur Agricultural University at a cost of Rs 5 crore.
• To encourage the use of organic fertilizers, free organic fertilizers were distributed to 1 lakh farmers during the year 2021-22. The use of single super phosphate as an alternative to DAP was encouraged by the government, as a result of which 4.50 lakh metric tonnes of SSP was used earlier in the state, while this year a record 7.10 lakh metric tonnes of SSP was distributed.
• Presenting his suggestions in the conference, Agriculture Minister Kataria said that due to mistakes on the portal by the banks under the Prime Minister's Fasal Bima Yojana, in the last years, 1 lakh 10 thousand cases were reported to the committee constituted by the Center, which should be disposed of quickly and provide relief to the farmers.
• He also suggested for the early implementation of Natural Farming and Indian Natural Farming System Scheme.
• He also told about the need for detailed study and research by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research regarding the cultivation of olives in the state and to make available fertilizers according to the demand in the state during the Rabi season.