"Mukhya Mantri Kisan Khet Sadak Marg’ Yojana announced

CHANDIGARH, DEC10 

 Haryana Chief Minister Manohar today announced a new scheme namely ‘Mukhya Mantri Kisan Khet Sadak Marg’ Yojana under which all passage of 3 and 4 karam in villages of the State would be made of ‘Khadanja’ in next five years in  a phased manner. In all, 500 kilometers such passage from each constituency would be taken up under this scheme. Besides, he also announced that the registration of the cultivable land of the farmers, giving details of crop sown and area under cultivation would be done twice in a year to assist the farmer’s right from sowing of their crop upto the sale of their produce in the market.

          Mr Manohar was speaking at the concluding session of Top 100 Agriculture Meet of agriculture farmers, scientists and government officers organized by Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department here today. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Mr O.P Dhankar, Chairperson, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB) Mrs Krishna Gehlot were also present on this occasion.

          While announcing the ‘Mukhya Mantri Kisan Khet Sadak Marg’ Yojana, the Chief Minister said that the work under the scheme would be undertaken by Rural Development Department and under the first phase 25 kilometers passage of 3 and 4 karam in villages from each constituency would be taken up.

          The Chief Minister said that it has also been decided that now the farmers in the State would get the registration of their cultivable land twice in year. He said that farmers could give details like name of crop sown and the area under cultivation at the Common Service Centres established at village level. This decision, he said would help the farmers on various parameters include procurement, compensation, insurance and bank loan. While the registration of land would be got done by the farmers, the same would be checked by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and verified by the village Patvari. The registration of farmers’ land would be done in both cases whether cultivated or non-cultivated, he added.

He said that efforts are being made to double the income of farmers. Haryana being primarily an agrarian State, farmer’s income should also be increased as of other groups of society.  A target has been fixed by the State Government to ensure that the farmers earn an income of atleast Rs one lakh per acre through crop diversification and use of scientific and modern technology. For this, he also urged the progressive farmers and farmers’ leaders to come forward and work towards increasing the farmers’ income. He also emphasized the need of preparing a mechanism for the financial management of farmers so that they could make efficient use of funds for enhancing their productivity. While describing agriculture as a business, he said that system of direct marketing is being promoted so as to minimize the expenditure of farmers and enhance their income.  

          Maintaining a direct dialogue with the agriculture scientists present on this occasion, the Chief Minister exhorted them to work towards the certification of organic products as this would not only help in increasing the faith of consumers but also enhance the sale of organic products. Besides, he also asked them to raise a system for ensuring additional income to marginal farmers having land holding of one or two acres. He said that the land holding of farmers is decreasing day by day and a system like cooperative farming could go a long way in further enhancing the income of farmers.

          While underlining the need of encouraging the farmers to shift from traditional farming to the farming of vegetable, fruit, flower and medicinal plants, he said that the government is also giving special focus on the concept of peri-urban farming to tap the about four crore population of Delhi and nearby areas like Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida etc through supply of essential commodities like milk, fruits, flowers and eggs to increase the income of farmers of the State.

          He said that the farmers in the State are being encouraged to adopt micro irrigation and to do away with the flood irrigation to preserve water. This would not only in reducing the cost of irrigation but also made available adequate water to those areas having less availability of water. Apart from this, use of solar power pumps is being promoted to save electricity. Similarly, special emphasis is also being given towards water storage and water recharging so that the water could be utilized through micro irrigation as and when required.

Earlier, speaking on this occasion, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Mr O.P Dhankar said that the suggestions given by all the stakeholders including farmers and scientists on various issues including doubling the farmers income and organic farming would definitely help the state government in taking concrete decisions in this direction. He said that the present State Government has taken various unique initiatives like Agri Leadership Summit, Cattle Fairs, Kisan Ratan Awards which have never been taken earlier. Mr Dhankar also emphasized the need of doubling the income of farmers, reducing cost of production and use of bio-fertilizers.

          Among those present on this occasion included Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department Mrs Navraj Sandhu, Director Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Mr Ajit Balaji Joshi, scientist and farmers.

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