New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the post-budget webinar on ‘Agriculture and Rural Transformation’ on Friday, said that the need of the hour is to fill India’s agriculture sector with new energy. He said that many important steps have been taken in this year’s budget to give impetus to agriculture and rural development and the suggestions put forth in the webinar will help in quickly implementing these provisions. Prime Minister Modi said that global markets are changing rapidly and the demand for agricultural products in the world is also emerging in a new form. In such a situation, keeping the Indian farmers in mind, it is necessary to make farming more and more export oriented. He said that India’s diverse climatic conditions and numerous agro-climatic zones give the country a special advantage in agricultural production, which should be better utilized. He said that special emphasis has been laid on high-value agriculture in the Union Budget. Under this, such agricultural products are being promoted which are in high demand in the domestic and international markets. Prime Minister Modi said that this time special encouragement has been given to coconut production to benefit the farmers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Apart from this, a proposal to promote crops of North-Eastern region has also been included in the budget.
Prime Minister Modi said that the experiences and suggestions of experts are very important for the country to get full benefit of the provisions of the budget. He stressed that a concrete strategy will have to be made so that the benefit of every rupee allocated in the budget reaches the real eligible beneficiaries as soon as possible. In his address, Prime Minister Modi said that agriculture, rural artisans and labour-based activities are the strong foundation of India’s economy. He said that agriculture is also a strategic pillar of India’s long-term development journey and with this in mind the government is continuously making efforts to strengthen this sector.
He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, assistance worth more than Rs 4 lakh crore has been given to about 10 crore farmers so far. At the same time, due to the reforms made in Minimum Support Price (MSP), farmers are getting benefits up to one and a half times the cost. Apart from this, claims worth about Rs 2 lakh crore have been settled under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, which has reduced the risk of farmers and provided them financial security. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan along with senior officials and experts of the concerned ministries also participated in the webinar.
