Haryana says agri growth in state three times that of ‘elder brother’ Punjab

Citing comparative figures of crop procurement being done on MSP, the state government claimed that it was “much ahead of Punjab” with regard to agriculture-related schemes.

Haryana government Friday claimed that the “the agricultural growth in state is three times that of Punjab”. Citing comparative figures of crop procurement being done on MSP, the state government claimed that it was “much ahead of Punjab” with regard to agriculture-related schemes.

“Farmers of Haryana and Punjab have always been instrumental in making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ with regard to food grains, but in the last few years due to the agricultural policies adopted by Haryana government along with the hard work of its farmers, the state despite having a small geographical spread, has moved ahead of its ‘elder brother’ Punjab,” a state government spokesperson said.

“Agriculture experts believe that the policies adopted by the state government have played a pivotal role in the progress made in the sector. Punjab undoubtedly has a wider spread than Haryana in terms of total area and cultivable land, however, the bold decisions taken by the present government under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the last seven years to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of 21 fruits and vegetables and 11 crops and then to procure them has paid off, in comparison to which Punjab stands nowhere close to the state.

Not only this, beneficial schemes starting from incentive scheme launched to promote crop diversification to schemes like Fasal Bima Yojana implemented to give compensation to the farmers for crop loss have definitely infused fresh energy among the farmers of the state,” the spokesperson added.

Haryana government further claimed that the “root cause of development in state” are “the positive steps taken by the government in the interest of farmers under the leadership of CM Khattar”.

“While the total geographical area of Haryana is 44,212 square kilometer, Punjab is spread across 50,362 sqkm. Similarly, the cultivable land in Haryana is 37.41 lakh hectare and that of Punjab is 42 lakh hectare.

In terms of agricultural growth also, Haryana’s rate is 6.3 per cent and Punjab’s rate is one-third of Haryana’s that is only 2.1 per cent. For sugarcane growing farmers, the state government has set up 11 sugar mills, on the other hand, the total number of sugar mills in Punjab is 15, but only 9 are in working condition,” the spokesperson said quoting comparative figures.

“Haryana is far ahead of its ‘elder brother’ Punjab with regard to giving farmers a genuine price for their crops and procuring them at the MSP. In Haryana, 11 crops including, wheat, barley, gram, sunflower, mustard, paddy, moong, maize, millet, cotton and groundnut, are purchased at the Minimum Support Price, while in Punjab only three crops namely wheat, paddy and sunflower are procured at Minimum Support Price. The ‘Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana’, which has been started in Haryana to reserve the price of 21 types of fruits and vegetables, is being discussed among the farmers of the whole country. There is no scheme like Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana in Punjab,” the spokesperson said.

“Haryana government has connected 81 mandis with the e-NAM portal for the farmers who want to sell their crops at the inter-state level after seeing the demand and good prices, while only 37 mandis of Punjab have been connected with the said portal. In the last few years, 76 water and soil testing laboratories have been set up in Haryana by spreading awareness among the farmers while in Punjab only 61 such laboratories are said to have been started. In order to guide the farmers regarding crop sowing, the Haryana government is opening water and soil testing laboratories and making ‘Soil Health Cards’ for the farmers so that they can sow the crop according to the fertility of the land and are able to get a good produce. Haryana is probably the only state in the country where the farmers visiting the mandis and the arhtiyas working there are provided with an insurance of Rs 10 lakh while there is no such scheme in Punjab”, the spokesperson said.

“In order to increase the additional income of the farmers of Haryana along with agriculture, the stat government, while promoting animal husbandry, started ‘Pashudhan Credit Card Scheme’ on the lines of ‘Kisan Credit Card’ and till date about 58,000 cards have been issued in the state while Punjab is yet to start this scheme. While encouraging the farmers to ensure more yield while consuming less water, Haryana government started drip-irrigation scheme and for this a record 85 per cent subsidy is being given while in Punjab, provision has been made to give grant only up to 80 per cent. According to government data, about 17 lakh farmers got about Rs 4,000 crore as crop insurance. Besides this, an amount of Rs 7,000 crore was also given to more than 34 lakh farmers in lieu of compensation for other losses to the farmers while for the farmers of Punjab, the government there has not started any crop-insurance scheme,” the government spokesperson added.

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