Lucknow: During the budget session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Saturday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath focused on the strides made in the agriculture sector.
He stated, “On the one hand, the scope of agriculture in the state has expanded, while on the other, under the procurement policy, middlemen have been eliminated and the process of direct purchase from farmers has begun.”
Highlighting a significant shift, the Chief Minister revealed that Rs 2 lakh 3 thousand crores were paid to sugarcane farmers over 22 years. In contrast, in the last 7 years, Rs 2 lakh 33 thousand crores have been transferred to the accounts of the farmers directly.
The Chief Minister further told the House that, as per the demand of the farmers, the per-quintal prices of sugarcane have also increased. He emphasized, “Even amidst the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we ensured that sugar mills remained operational.”
The Chief Minister further said, “A lot of politics was done in the name of Chaudhary Charan Singh Saheb,” adding that in his government, Chhaprauli Sugar was run with full capacity, expressing respect for Chaudhary Saheb.
Highlighting the government’s achievements, the Chief Minister noted that through Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi, Rs 63 thousand crore has been provided directly into the accounts of 2 crore 62 lakh farmers. “It is the result of our efforts that irrigation potential of an additional 23 lakh hectares of land has been created in the state. Provision of additional funds has been made for the Khet Suraksha Yojana and the State Agricultural Development Scheme.”
“In this budget, a provision of Rs 24 crore has been made to provide free electricity to private tube wells, ensuring accessibility for farmers. To ensure that agriculture is not affected by global warming, funds have been allocated for installing automatic weather stations and automatic rain gauges in every village. Funds have also been arranged for agritourism, organic culture labs, and tissue culture labs. Besides, arrangements for the modernization of 6600 tube wells have also been made through the budget,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that all these works will be done in a time-bound manner. With this, we will get 1 lakh 33 thousand hectares of additional agricultural land. He said that provisions have been made in the budget to provide free water facilities to farmers from canals and government tube wells, including Rs 500 crore for installing solar panels on all tube wells under the PM KUSUM Yojana and for maintaining the groundwater level.
The CM said that funds have also been allocated in this budget for strengthening milk unions, establishing new dairies, and effectively controlling animal diseases and fisheries.
(With inputs from ANI)
