Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said here on Friday that the state government was committed to strengthening the rural economy through sustainable and farmer-friendly policies.

“The government has taken a pioneering step by becoming the first state in the country to fix the highest support price for wheat and maize under natural farming,” he said, adding that the state government has set a milestone by purchasing wheat at Rs.40 per kg and maize at Rs. 30 per kg from farmers produced through natural farming practices.

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So far, 398 metric tonnes of naturally grown maize have been procured from 1,508 farmers and Rs. 1.19 crore has been directly transferred to their bank accounts through DBT, he claimed.

He further said that to promote natural produce, the state government has launched Him Bhog-Him Makki Atta in the market.

“The government has assured farmers a stable income by committing to purchase up to 20 quintals of maize per family growing produce through natural farming,” he said.

Sukhu further said that to encourage farmers to adopt natural farming, the government has started Rajiv Gandhi Natural Farming Start-up Yojana as a part of Rs. 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Start-up Scheme, which integrates agriculture with employment generation.

This year alone, 36,000 farmers have adopted natural farming, adding to the 1.98 lakh farmers already cultivating over 35,000 hectares, he informed, adding that the government is providing free certification to 1.50 lakh farmers for making natural farming a commercially viable model.

The CM said that the government has also launched Rs.1292 crore Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition Project (HP Shiva) to expand horticulture development across seven districts.

“The initiative would cover 6,000 hectares and would promote the cultivation of fruits like oranges, guavas, litchi and plums. This initiative would benefit over 15,000 farming families directly,” said he.

He said that under this scheme 1.3 lakh metric tonnes of fruit was expected to be produced annually by 2032 with a market value of Rs. 400 crore.

To facilitate the sale of natural farming products and to ensure farmers get fair prices, the infrastructure development is underway in 10 market yards, he added.

The CM said that the state has also set a benchmark in the dairy sector by being the first one to fix the minimum support price for milk.

“Cow milk was being procured at Rs. 45 per litre and buffalo milk at Rs. 55 per litre. A state-of-the-art milk processing plant with a capacity of 50,000 liters per day has been inaugurated in Dattanagar, benefitting over 20,000 dairy farmers and a foundation stone of an Automated Milk Processing Plant has been laid in Dhagwar, Kangra district, with a capacity to process 1.5 to 3 lakh liters of milk per day. Apart from this, milk processing and chilling plants were also being established in Kangra, Kullu, Nahan, Nalagarh, Una and Hamirpur,” he said.

MILKFED is procuring two lakh liters of milk daily and in a pioneering move, goat milk was being purchased at Rs. 70 per litre in Una district, he added.

He said that the state has also launched Rs. 500 crore ‘Him Ganga’ scheme to boost milk production and more than 26,000 below-poverty-line farmers have been benefited over the past two years by providing 50 per cent subsidy on feed for pregnant cattle.

The CM said that the present state government has made major reforms in horticulture such as the introduction of universal cartons for apple growers to enhance marketability. Under the Market Intervention Scheme, the government has disbursed, Rs. 153 crore to clear outstanding payments of the horticulturists by the previous BJP government.

Minimum support prices for apples, mangoes and citrus fruits have been increased to Rs. 12 per kg, significantly benefiting orchardists, he added.

In order to ensure farm productivity, the government has introduced subsidies up to 70 per cent for fencing, 50 per cent on seeds for cereals, pulses, oilseeds and fodder crops, and 25 per cent for potato, ginger and turmeric seeds. Under the JICA scheme, Rs. 96.15 crore has been spent on awareness and capacity-building programmes through which over 50,000 farmers in the state has been benefitted. Apart from this, Rs. 19.19 crore has been spent to support over 1,000 farmers through fencing projects in just two years,” he said.

Sukhu said that the holistic approach of present state government towards strengthening agriculture, horticulture and dairy through initiatives like MSP and support for natural farming was playing pivotal role in making the farmers and horticulturists self-reliant and ensuring their prosperous future and setting an example for rural development across India.