'Bengal records highest increase in income of large farmers in India'
Kolkata: Large farmers in West Bengal have recorded the highest increase in income among all the states in the country according to the publication titled "Doubling Farmers Income" which was released during 94th Foundation Day & Award Ceremony of ICAR at New Delhi on Saturday by Union minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar.
A tweet by ICAR that was posted on the twitter handle of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare reiterated that the highest income of large farmers happened in Bengal.
State Agriculture minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay attributed the success to a slew of schemes introduced for farmers by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee since the Trinamool Congress government came to power for the first time in 2011.
A senior official in the department pointed out that the state has ensured that not a single farmer committed suicide embroiled in debt. The Mamata Banerjee government launched the Krishak Bandhu (new) scheme on June 17 last year. The farmers now receive increased financial support from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for one acre or more of cultivable land and those having less than one acre receive a minimum of Rs 4,000 per annum in two phases. Earlier a farmer used to get Rs 6,000 maximum annually under the scheme. Bengal is the only state that extends Krishak Bandhu benefits to share-croppers too.
Beneficiaries of the Krishak Bandhu (Death Benefit) scheme have also shown a steady increase. During Kharif 2021, about 74 lakh farmers derived death benefits which were about Rs 5 lakh during 2019. In the case of the death of a farmer within the age group of 18-60 years, the bereaved family members get an assistance of Rs 2 lakh. It gets directly transferred to the bank account of the next of kin.
The minister also highlighted the efforts of the state to minimize damage to crops, particularly paddy, from heavy rainfall.
The state Agriculture department has set up 2060 custom hiring centres (CHCs) where heavy machines are available for quick picking up of paddy or other crops from agricultural land when there is a cyclone warning.
"We also offer subsidies to the extent of Rs 10,000 to Rs 50 lakh to farmers willing to buy modern agriculture equipment. The production of many crops like paddy, pulses, maize and mustard among others have increased in Bengal," Chattopadhyay added.
