Bhopal: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh here today said that the Centre will bring out new crop insurance policy by removing shortcomings in the current policy and provide Soil Health Cards to all farmers in the country in next three years.
"The present crop insurance scheme applicable in the country has lot of problems in it and it takes care of interest of companies more than farmers, despite the fact that the farmers were paying more premium under it," the Union Agriculture Minister said addressing a programme under Krishi Mahotsav.
The month-long Mahotsav was launched yesterday in the state.
Singh praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for drawing attention towards these problems and said that the Centre will soon launch a new crop insurance scheme by ensuring that farmers' interest is served in it.
He also announced on the occasion that Soil Health Cards will be provided to 14.50 crore farmers soon in the country.
The Minister also said that the government has provided more than 100 soil testing laboratories to various states in the country and more such facilities will be added in the country soon.
Singh also praised Madhya Pradesh's agriculture growth rate which is 24 per cent at present against the national average of four per cent.
He also praised the state for providing bonus to farmers above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) which is not the case in other states of the country.
Addressing the function, Chouhan said that the state has made tremendous progress in agriculture and was bestowed with the 'Krishi-Karman' award twice and is likely to get for the third time also.
In 2003-04, the total irrigation potential of the state was just 7,000 hectare while at present it stands at over 27,000 hectares.
Earlier addressing a programme at Central Institute of Agriculture Engineering (CIAE), the Union minister said that the country has got a skilled craftsman in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after NDA came to power in the country.
He said that in the first quarter of the current year, the growth rate was less than five per cent, it is more than five per cent in second quarter after the NDA came to power.
The minister also credited the NDA government for opening four crore bank accounts in just a single day.
