Indian farmers have for long felt neglected, but a significant shift has taken place under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre with the country’s budget for farmers witnessing more than a five-fold increase, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
He was addressing a gathering of farmers and people from the cooperative sector in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday after inaugurating India’s first liquid nano di-ammonia phosphate (DAP) plant of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) on the Ahmedabad–Kalol highway.
“In our country 60% people are engaged in farming and about 60% of the country’s land is suitable for agriculture. However, for a very long time farmers and farming activities have been neglected in our country. I want to present some figures before you. Before the Narendra Modi government came to power at the Centre, the budget for farmers was ₹22,000 crore in 2013-14. Presently, Narendrabhai has made a budgetary provision of ₹1,22,000 crore for farmers for 2023-24. Back then, only 7 lakh farmers were given farm loans. In 2023-24, 19 lakh farmers have already availed farm loans,” said Shah.
He said that the production of cereals has increased from 323 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 665 million tonnes presently under the Modi government. The minimum support price for rice, wheat and millet has seen 68%, 62.5% and 68% rise in 2023-24 as compared to 2013-14.
Shah said that fertilisers should be scarcely used but till the time there are no alternatives found, its dependency remains.
“The outlay for subsidy on fertilisers back then was ₹73,000 crore, which presently stands at ₹2,55,000 crore. All this while keeping the prices of fertilisers unchanged,” said Shah.
He emphasised the importance of transitioning from heavy dependence on urea towards natural farming.
“If farmers aspire to embrace natural farming without compromising crop yield for three years, they can employ Nano urea and Nano DAP while incorporating cow dung into their farming practices, which encourages the thriving of earthworms. By following this approach, in just two years, you can seamlessly transition to natural farming without any loss in crop productivity,” he said.
In a bid to enhance India’s self-sufficiency in the fertiliser sector, IFFCO’s Nano DAP (Liquid) boasts an 8 % nitrogen and 16 % phosphorus composition, providing a cost-effective alternative to the conventional 50 kg bag of DAP, which is presently priced at ₹1,350 for farmers.
IFFCO has registered for a long-term patent on its nano urea and nano DAP, according to Shah.
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