Bhildi, Oct 30 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Centre's agriculture budget had increased more than fivefold since 2013-14 and that farmers had received financial benefits or made savings worth more than Rs 50 lakh crore over the past several years through government schemes and policy decisions.
Addressing farmers at a gathering in Bhildi in Gujarat's Banaskantha, PM Modi cited five major interventions -- PM-KISAN, fertiliser subsidies, minimum support prices (MSP), crop insurance and solar pumps -- to explain the financial assistance and savings he attributed to the government's policies.
"Over the past few years, because of our government's policies, farmers have received or saved more than Rs 50 lakh crore," he said.
Of this, around Rs 4.5 lakh crore had been transferred directly into the bank accounts of small farmers through the PM-KISAN scheme, according to the Prime Minister.
PM Modi said small farmers, who account for more than 85 per cent of the farming community, had historically received inadequate attention. "The income-support scheme was introduced to provide direct financial assistance to this section," he said.
He also cited the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, saying farmers had received more than Rs two lakh crore in compensation under crop insurance over the past 10-12 years.
The Prime Minister highlighted the expansion of solar-powered irrigation under the PM-KUSUM scheme, under which around 12 lakh solar pumps had been provided to farmers. "These pumps had reduced dependence on electricity and diesel for irrigation," he said.
According to PM Modi, farmers would otherwise have had to purchase more than 80 crore litres of diesel to operate the pumps, representing a substantial saving.
He added that the additional electricity generated through solar systems was another benefit.
The Prime Minister also referred to the distribution of more than 26 crore Soil Health Cards, saying they had helped farmers identify the type and quantity of fertiliser required for their fields.
"Agriculture had increasingly been linked with science and technology over the past 12 years, with nearly 3,000 new varieties of seeds made available to farmers to help them adapt to changing climatic conditions," he noted.
Describing agriculture as both a tradition and part of India's culture, PM Modi said scientific methods and technology were increasingly integrated into farming and allied activities.
PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat. On the first day of the visit, he launched and dedicated development projects worth more than Rs 14,000 crore in Banaskantha and released the 24th instalment of PM-KISAN.
The Prime Minister said, "The government's measures are aimed at increasing farm incomes, reducing cultivation costs and strengthening the agricultural sector."