Haryana sports and youth affairs minister Sandeep Singh on Saturday said the state government is making important decisions for the improvement of agriculture and upliftment of farmers in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Kurukshetra, the minister said apart from procuring the crops of farmers at minimum support price (MSP), the government will also compensate farmers for crop loss due to natural calamity.

Singh said that during the last year, the state government has paid more than Rs 27,000 Crore to the farmers for their crops through direct benefit transfer (DBT). The compensation amount for crops damaged due to natural calamity has been increased from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per acre, he said.

Recently Rs, 561 Crore as compensation for crops damaged in Kharif-2021 and claims worth about Rs 700 Crore have been approved under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Singh said.

“Haryana is the only state in the country to procure 14 crops at MSP. ‘Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana’ has also been started for Bajra from Kharif Marketing Season 2021. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 436 Crore has been given to 2.40 lakh farmers for the procurement of millet at the rate of Rs 600 per quintal between the minimum support price and the average market price,” the minister said.

He said ‘Mukhyamantri Bagwani Bima Yojana’ has been started to promote crop diversification and horticulture to increase the income of the farmers. To promote horticulture, three new Centres of Excellence are being set up at Bhiwani, Nuh and Jhajjar. For mushroom cultivation, 40 per cent subsidy is given to general farmers and 90 per cent to scheduled caste farmers.

Agroforestry has also been included in the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme for crop diversification and water conservation in the year 2021-22. Under the ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ scheme, alternative crops are being promoted in place of paddy.

The sports minister said farmers adopting direct-seeded rice technology were given an incentive of Rs 5,000 per acre. The state government is also promoting animal husbandry, beekeeping and fisheries.

He said that animal husbandry is a major source of income for the villagers. Under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Dugdh Utpadhak Protsahan Yojna’, a subsidy of Rs 37.9 Crore has been given to milk plants in the bank accounts of cooperative milk producers. Under the Haryana Beekeeping Policy-2021, the target is to increase the production of honey by 10 times by 2030.