Assam to provide 10 lakh soil health cards to farmers, subsidy for bringing paddy to procurement centres

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 7, 2024

Adding a new momentum to the growth of agriculture in the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday launched the distribution of Soil Health Cards (SHC) to farmers across the state.

Sarma also initiated the process of distributing farm machinery and the inauguration of agriculture knowledge centres at a programme held at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarma termed the day as very significant as he said that considering the need for farmers’ empowerment, the state government has initiated the process of distributing Soil Health Cards. Simultaneously, along with expanding the distribution of Soil Health Cards to provide incentives to the farmers, the government is working for the all-round welfare of the farmers of the state.

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in issuing Soil Health Cards way back in 2015. Taking him as an inspiration, the Assam government has set the target of issuing 10 lakh SHCs in the state. Four lakh SHCs have already been prepared.

Sarma said that to examine the suitability of agricultural soil the number of laboratories in the state has been increased from 5 to 22.

Stating that the Central government has especially acknowledged the initiatives of the state government in agriculture mechanization, Chief Minister Sarma said that his government has also taken steps for setting up of 816 village-level farm machinery banks across the state.

He also said that for establishing these farm machinery banks; the Centre has given 95 per cent subsidy. He moreover said that along with 96 agriculture knowledge banks, steps have been taken under the APART scheme to inaugurate 93 offices of Agricultural Development Officers across the state.

The Chief Minister also said that the decision of the government to procure paddy with minimum support price has generated optimism in agriculture.

He said that sometimes since the paddy procurement centres are far from villages, the farmers need to face additional financial burden in bringing the paddy.

The Chief Minister, therefore, announced that the government would provide subsidies to the farmers against every quintal for bringing their paddy to the procurement centres. This would help in minimizing the transportation cost of the farmers.

He further said that for the ethanol industry, the requirements of maize and wheat have increased considerably. Moreover, the state government along with OIL India Limited and Reliance are in the process of producing bio-fuel in the state.

Sarma also thanked Agriculture Minister Atul Bora for the revival of agriculture in the state, which according to him is contributing to the goal of Atmanirbhar Asom. He on the occasion also expressed his gratitude to the farmers of the state for being anchors of Atmanirbhar Asom.

Agriculture etc Minister Atul Bora, Chief Secretary Ravi Kota, Assam Seed Corporation chairman Prabin Hazarika, Principal Secretary Revenue GD Tripathy and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.