Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare spoke at the AgriTech Summit in New Delhi. He stated that the government is constantly working to improve the lives of the country's small farmers. Many significant schemes are being implemented in this direction in order to reduce farming challenges and increase farmer income. Simultaneously, India is on a path to becoming the world's leading agricultural producer.
Agriculture, according to Tomar, is a critical sector for our country. We have accepted agriculture's primacy; in this regard, work is being done in the direction of its progress, changes, policy inclusion, cooperation, and so on. The country has 86 percent of small farmers, who have small acreage and cannot invest much. The government is working under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership to move these farmers forward because if the balance of these 86 percent farmers remains low, neither agriculture nor the country will advance.
Keeping this in mind, the government has begun the process of establishing 10,000 new FPOs. This is going to cost Rs 6865 crore. 3,000 of them have become FPOs. When small farmers join these FPOs, the area under cultivation expands and the farmers' collective power grows. When there is only one type of farming, production increases and farmers can get a good price. This effort is being made to increase farmer income.
According to Tomar, the government is also working on pulses and oilseeds. Both were in short supply. Farmers have expanded their production of pulses significantly. There is still a gap in oilseeds, which the government is attempting to fill through the oilseed mission. We all know that edible oils must be imported. Because palm oil accounts for approximately 56 percent of all oil consumed in our country, the Palm Oil Mission has been launched, with the government investing 11 thousand crores. Approximately 28 lakh hectares of land in the country are suitable for palm oil cultivation.
Efforts are being made in the first phase to increase palm cultivation on an area of 6 lakh hectares. When the palm oil crop comes in three to four years, the country's reliance on imports will be reduced. According to the Union Agriculture Minister, there is a need today to deal with the challenges of the agriculture sector, such as how technology should be introduced, how to increase the availability of private investment, and how to create job opportunities.
Prime Minister Modi is particularly concerned about agriculture. This is why a lot of effort has been made in that direction, which the government can contribute to. Prior to 2014, the agriculture budget was around Rs 22 thousand crore, which is now Rs 1.32 lakh crore. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is being run to provide farmers with security. In this scheme, Rs 1.22 lakh crore has been paid to farmers to compensate them for crop damage sustained over a six-year period.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Rs 2.03 lakh crore has been deposited in the accounts of 11 and a half crore farmers so that they can receive income support. In terms of agriculture technology, Tomar stated that the government is working on the Digital Agri Mission so that farmers can reach the government and the government can reach all farmers. If transparency improves through technology, all farmers will be able to reap the full benefits of all schemes.
If all farmers, agricultural areas, government schemes, central and state governments, and banks are brought onto this platform as part of the Digital Agri Mission, the benefits of the schemes will be easily accessible. Mechanization is being linked to farmers. Drone technology is being promoted by the government. The more agriculture technology and transparency improve, the more agriculture benefits and the country advances. In the programme, awards were given in a variety of categories.
