Haryana Governor while describing Haryana as predominantly an agrarian State said that the prosperity and happiness can prevail in the State only if the farmer becomes prosperous and happy.
The present State Government has always laid emphasis on agriculture and horticulture, he asserted. “I take pride in stating that the combined budget of agriculture and horticulture has grown more than four times from Rs 1,026 crore in 2014 to Rs 4,379 crore in 2022. The Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in Agriculture and Horticulture Budget is 19.9 percent from 2014 to 2022,” shared Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya, while delivering his address on the first day of Budget Session of the 14th Haryana Vidhan Sabha which commenced on February 20.
He further informed that Haryana, with only 1.54 percent area of India, is the 2nd largest contributor of food grains to the Central pool. Haryana has been conferred with the best State Agribusiness Award– 2022 by the Indian Agriculture and Food Council for its innovative and agriculture friendly policies and programmes,” said Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya.
The Governor informed that under ‘Har Khet Swasth Khet’ campaign, for the first time, 30 lakh soil samples have been collected during the year 2022-23.
As many as 107 mini soil testing laboratories have been established during 2022-23, in Government Senior Secondary Schools/Government Colleges under ‘Earn While You Learn’ Programme, said Bandaru Dattatraya. He further shared that during 2022-23, a total of 7,500 farmers including 156 women farmers, 255 young farmers and 405 officers were trained to adopt natural farming. A portal for natural farming was launched and more than 6,000 farmers have registered themselves on the portal so far.
The Governor shared that for the year 2023-24, the Department has proposed 1 lakh acre under Crop Diversification and Water Conservation from paddy to other crops. Department has also proposed to launch new projects and concepts on Digital Agriculture namely Precision Farming, Use of Drones for Crop Yield Assessment and insect pest-disease management. Bandaru Dattatraya further informed that the year 2023 is the International Year of Millets and State Government is focused on promoting research and adoption of millet crops. For this purpose, a Nutri Cereal Research Centre at Bhiwani will be functional from Kharif 2023.
The Governor shared that in the year 2022-23, the Horticulture department has increased the availability of quality planting material for farmers from 1 crore to 1.50 crore hybrid vegetable seedlings. Innovative technology of vertical farming in horticulture was adopted for yield enhancement.
He further shared that a unified subsidy portal has been launched for easy access to farmers under all the schemes and components of horticulture. 25,000 farmers have already registered themselves on the portal.
“Haryana is the only State to launch a dedicated crop insurance scheme for horticulture farmers in 2022-23 namely “Mukhyamantri Bagwani Bima Yojana (MBBY)”. 46 horticultural crops have been covered with sum insured of Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per acre with a low premium of Rs 750 to Rs 1000 per acre,” informed Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya.
The Governor informed that the State Government is establishing a Honey Quality Lab with an investment of Rs 20 crore at the Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre (IBDC), Kurukshetra, to facilitate testing and export of honey.
“A new Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Post Harvest Management is being established at Panchkula for which an MoU has been signed with United Kingdom. Two more CoEs are also being established, one for Onion at Pinangwan, Nuh and another for Flowers at Munimpur, Jhajjar,” he said.
The Governor said that the State Government is marching ahead to make the State free from Foot & Mouth disease (FMD) and Haemorrhagic Septicaemia(HS) diseases amongst cattle and buffaloes by using a combined vaccine for FMD&HS.
“Haryana is the only state permitted by Government of India to use the combined vaccine as a pilot project under National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP),” he informed.
Bandaru Dattatraya further shared that the department effectively managed the recent outbreak of Lumpy Skin Disease(LSD) which caused devastating effects on Animal Husbandry Sector throughout the country. With stringent control measures and vaccination, no new case of LSD has been reported after November 2022..He informed that the Pashudhan Kisan Credit Cards (PKCC) are being provided to the livestock owners of the State by the bankers for meeting their working capital requirements and till date 1.04 lakh Pashudhan Kisan Credit Cards have been sanctioned by the banks. Establishment of 70 Mobile Veterinary Units in the State is under process.
The Governor shared that the Government has increased the State Advised Price (SAP) of Sugar cane by Rs 10 per quintal for the current crushing season 2022-23 over the last year. Now the increased price is Rs 372 and Rs 365 per qtl for early and mid-late varieties, respectively. For the year 2021-22, Karnal and Shahabad Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd. have won the first prize in technical efficiency and highest cane crushing respectively at National level. Foundation stone of 90 KLPD Ethanol Plant at Panipat Sugar Mills was laid by Union Home and Cooperation Minister on February 14, 2023, shared Sh. Bandaru Dattatraya.