Government Making Efforts To Address Challenges In Farm Sector: Tomar

The government is making efforts to address the challenges faced by the country's farm sector, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Wednesday. 

The minister was speaking at the National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign 2022-23 here.

He highlighted that the production of foodgrains is estimated to have risen to 315.7 million tonnes in the 2021-22 crop year (July-June), which is higher by 5 million tonnes in 2020-21. 

The national target for the total foodgrains production has been set at 328 million tonnes for the 2022-23 crop year, of which the rabi (winter-sown) season will contribute 164.8 million tonnes, an official statement said.

The strategies would be to enhance the area through inter-cropping, crop diversification, and productivity enhancement by introducing high yield varieties (HYVs), adoption of suitable agronomic practices in low-yielding regions, utilizing residual moisture, early sowing and lifesaving irrigation for rabi crops. 

Tomar said the central and state governments are jointly discharging their
responsibilities in the agriculture sector. 

A lot of work has been done in the country in terms of production, due to which there has been an increase in the production of food grains, pulses, and oilseeds. 

"Today, the priority is to tackle and solve the challenges before agriculture," he said.

In this regard, Tomar mentioned Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, under which Rs 1.22 lakh crore has been given to farmers as compensation for the loss of their crops. 

He said all farmers should be brought under the ambit of this scheme as it will make small farmers feel secure. 

Tomar said the productivity of the soil is decreasing due to the use of chemical fertilizers, hence organic and natural farming is being promoted. 

The central government is taking forward the agriculture sector and state governments also need to make more efforts in this direction, he said.

(Inputs from PTI)