Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Saturday urged farmers to diversify into crops other than paddy to take advantage of government schemes.
He said that over 34 lakh of them received the 20th instalment of financial assistance under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
Majhi said this while attending the state-level PM Kisan Samman Nidhi event here in Odisha, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi disbursed the assistance to 9.7 crore farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) at the main function in Varanasi.
“Today, I participated in the P M Kisan Samman Nidhi program in Bhubaneswar. Today, the Honourable Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji is providing Rs 20,500 crore to 9.7 crore farmers across the country from Varanasi. In this context, today, more than 34.85 lakh farmers in Odisha are being provided a total of 697 crore rupees,” Majhi posted on X.
Stating that the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi or PM Kisan Yojana has been instrumental in making farmers progressive, Majhi said the programme integrates farmers into the mainstream of the economy.
This scheme plays a significant role in the development of farmers and in reducing poverty, the chief minister said.
He also said that over 34.85 lakh eligible farmers in Odisha received Rs 2,000 each, and a total of around Rs 697 crore was disbursed into their bank accounts.
Asserting that the Odisha government has implemented many schemes for farmers within a year, Majhi said the cultivators are getting the benefits.
More than 50 lakh farmers of the state are getting assistance of Rs 4,000 per year under the CM Kisan scheme.
“It is a matter of happiness for us that the farmer brothers are getting assistance of Rs 10,000 per year by including PM Kisan and CM Kisan,” he pointed out.
He said the 20th instalment of PM Kisan Yojana was given for the period from April to July this year.
The CM said that the country celebrates PM-Kisan Divas August 2.
Along with this, “PM-Kisan Divas” is also being celebrated in all the districts, blocks and panchayats of the state. On this occasion, awareness is also being created among the farmers about the qualifications required to be included in this scheme, the CM said.
Stating that he wants all eligible farmers included in the PM Kisan scheme, Majhi said special programs or saturation drives have been launched in all the blocks of the state.
“No eligible farmer should be left out of this scheme. You have now started the Kharif crop. This is an important scheme among the many schemes that the PM has made for you, in which you are getting direct financial assistance,” Majhi said.
The farmers should accelerate the process of diversification into other crops such as fish cultivation, animal husbandry and others, which will increase their yield and benefit them financially.
“Your income in the agriculture sector will not only double but will increase manifold. The Prime Minister’s target for this increase will be fulfilled,” he said.
Apart from this, the chief minister said that under the Samriddha Kisan Yojana, the state government is providing an additional input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal of paddy.
Last year, in the Kharif season, the state assisted around Rs 6,000 crore to 17 lakh farmers. Similarly, in the Rabi season, more than Rs 1,600 crore was provided to more than 3 lakh farmers, he said.
On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo said as many as 34,85,881 farmers received Rs 697 crore under the PM Kisan scheme.
The farmers will buy seeds and fertilisers with the money, he said, adding that the state government is trying to double their income.
“We have increased the income of farmers by increasing the purchase price of paddy,” the CM added.
