Minister of State for M/o Food Processing Industries Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has empowered the farmers by giving them modern digital technology. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today about the several steps taken by the Narendra Modi government in the interest of the farmers, Shri Patel said that through digital technology, the farmers have been saved from many troubles and loot along with getting rid of problems of corruption and middlemen.

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that through digital techniques, the assistance given by the government to the farmers has now started reaching the farmers directly, due to which new opportunities have been provided to them to do business and they are able to take advantage of these opportunities. He said that keeping in mind the interests of the farmers, the Modi government has created a new concept from seed to market, in which the Digital Agriculture Mission has proved to be a miracle. The Union Minister said that this mission has played an important role in bringing changes in the conditions and standard of living of the farmers.

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that through e-NAM Mandi, more than 1.74 crore farmers have been linked across the country and 2.36 lakh businesses have been registered through e-NAM, through which business worth 2.22 lakh crore rupees has taken place. The Union Minister said that 11.37 crore farmers of the country have benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and through this scheme, 2.16 lakh crore rupees have been directly deposited in the accounts of these farmers. He said that after the digital revolution, farmers have also got a lot of benefits in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. He told that the crops of the farmers were monitored through satellite. Shri Patel said that in the year 2021-22, 16,000 crore rupees were allocated for this scheme and from 2016 to 2022, 38 crore farmers were registered in this scheme and claims worth more than 1,28,522 rupees were paid, while 25,185 crore rupees was given by the farmers as insurance premium. Shri Patel said that more than 3,855 FPOs were registered under Farmers Producers Union, 22.71 crore Soil Health Cards were made and 11,531 testing laboratories were approved across the country. Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that during the time of the previous government, the allocation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana was Rs 6,057 crore, while the Modi government has increased this by about 136 percent to Rs 15,511 crore. He said that under the Micro Irrigation Fund, projects worth Rs 4710.96 crore have been approved covering an area of 17.09 lakh hectares. Apart from this, a micro irrigation fund has been created in NABARD with an initial amount of Rs 5,000 crore and a corpus fund of Rs 10,000 crore has been kept. Shri Patel also told that during the time of the previous government, the agricultural credit flow was Rs 7.3 lakh crore, the Narendra Modi government has increased it to Rs 18.5 lakh crore in 2022-23. Apart from this, there were 6.46 crore farmers under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme during the time of the previous government, but today 9.28 crore farmers are getting its benefits.

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that during the previous government, fertilizer subsidy was Rs. 41,853 crore, which has been increased by the Modi government to Rs. 62,151 crore (cumulative) on urea and Rs. 40,073 crore (cumulative) on non-urea. Shri Patel said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi started the concept of Kisan Rail, under which 2359 trains plied on 167 routes across the country and more than 7.88 lakh tonnes of agricultural produce was transported. He informed that more than 12 agricultural products were transported from 33 cargo terminals under Kisan Udaan. Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Patel said that after the digital revolution, farmers do not have to visit banks and now farmers have got rid of the trouble of getting NOC from every bank. Shri Patel said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is exporting food grains and India is making new records in exports in coarse grains, rice, sugar, milk etc. He said that Agri start-ups are creating a new history under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Shri Patel informed that earlier there were only 100 start-ups working in the agriculture sector but in the last 7-8 years this number has increased to more than 4,000. He said that earlier there were only two Mega Food Parks but now their number has increased to 23. Shri Patel said that India has achieved the 10% ethanol blending target by 2021-22, much ahead of the deadline, resulting in timely payment of over Rs 40,600 crore to farmers

Shri Prahlad Singh Patel said that reports released by various institutions clearly show that the total inflation-adjusted income of farmers has doubled, or almost doubled in many states. He said that today India ranks first or second in terms of production of maximum agricultural produce in the world and a record export of agricultural produce worth Rs 3.75 lakh crore has been done. Shri Patel said that 23 lakh farmers across the country have benefited from the Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana, while an allocation of Rs one lakh crore has been made from the Agriculture Infra Fund. He said that our farmers would be benefited by the SOP issued by the Modi government in drone technology.

Comparative description of the agricultural sector in the policies of the previous government and the Modi government

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MJPS / RR