Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government is creating a national database of farmers by taking data from various sources like PM-Kisan and PM Fasal Bima Yojana. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday that this database shall be expanded to include 8 Cr farmers by December. The announcement was made at the Chief Ministers' conference on initiatives and schemes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
The strength of the current database is 5.5 crore. This shall be increased to 8 crore. The minister further said that the aim of this is to link agriculture with technology and scientific research. He also encouraged the Central government and the state governments to work today for agriculture to give a boost to the economy. Giving the example of the Karnataka model, he told the states to create a database which includes details of land records as well.
The minister added that with the establishment of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, availing loans would be easier. Mandis, FPOs, PACS, and start-ups would start getting loans easily. He also talked about the oil palm mission and said that ICAR has researched and chosen areas for the cultivation of oil palm.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal was also present at the conference. He said that India has been emerging as a leading export partner and there was still room for improvement in agri-exports. He added that storage and warehousing infrastructure needed attention.
The main objective of the conference was to highlight the features of Atma Nirbhar Krishi. It was aimed at enabling states to increase the income of the farmers. Discussions were centred around the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, edible oils and palms, and the use of technology in the agricultural sector. The importance of the export of agricultural products was stressed and the role of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was discussed.
