Expanse of rabi crop cultivation has grown manifold – Surya Pratap Shahi
Lucknow: State’s Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi has said that due to the better efforts of the state government, the coverage of rabi crops has increased by 368340 hectares as compared to last year. Out of this, 239000 hectares of green peas are cultivated, which are being sold in the market as seasonal peas. He told that there has been a better increase in the area of barley, maize, gram, lentils, rapeseed and linseed. Which is 03 percent more than last year. Shahi was addressing a press conference at the media center of Lok Bhavan.
Shahi informed that so far this year 592034 mini kits of mustard, and 441563 mini kits of gram and lentils have also been distributed. As a result, the production of oilseeds and pulses increased in the state this year.
Shahi told that due to the mechanization being done by the state government in agriculture, the use of machines and techniques in agriculture has increased. As a result, 40 to 50 percent of the farmers have started farming in rows. The cost of row cultivation decreases and productivity increases.
In this way, due to the efforts of the government and the hard work of the farmers, till now a total of 12796309 hectares of land has been covered with rabi crops. And last year, there was coverage of rabi crops on 12427969 hectares. This has become possible with the use of better technology in agriculture, for which the farmers deserve congratulations.
He said that in order to encourage mechanization of agriculture on a large scale in the state, a grant of Rs 550 crore would be given for the purchase of machinery and more than 50,000 agricultural equipment would be made available to the farmers.
He informed that 15,000 solar pumps were advertised in the state under the Kusum scheme, against which 29,000 applications have been received. In this, 13183 farmers deposited their farmer’s share. Among the farmers who had deposited their farmer’s share, 8778 have received pumps. The rest will also be made available soon.
Shahi said that for better agriculture system within the state, the state government has also maintained the supply of fertilizers continuously. Paddy production has also improved this year and the government has set a target of procuring 70 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this year. Presently 4384 purchase centers are working for the purchase of paddy and so far 3791479 metric tonnes of paddy has been purchased. Which is 34.16 percent against the target. The state government has also procured 42,957 metric tonnes of millet through 97 millet purchase centers in 18 districts. The state government is going to start the work of natural farming in more than 110000 hectare area in 70 districts of the state with the objective of providing maximum benefits to the farmers. 2023 has been declared as the International Year of Millets.
The campaign will be launched soon after making necessary action plan for millets by the state government. He said that all officers/employees should work honestly to make the welfare schemes of the government reach the farmers. He also said that recently, Bulandshahr’s Deputy Director Agriculture and Mahoba’s District Agriculture Officer have been suspended due to negligence and misconduct in work.
