Center consistently working to ensure better incomes for all farmers: Nirmala Sitaraman

Union Finance Minsiter Nirmala Sitaraman, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minsiter K Pavan Kalyan, Reliance Industries Exectuive Director Anant Ambani and AP Minister Nara Lokesh along with others at the foundation-stone laying cerremonay of Rayalaseema Horticulture Hub and Indian School of Agriculture in Mandanapalli in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

The Center is consistently working with the objective of ensuring better incomes for all farmers, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman said.

Speaking after the launch of the horticulture hub and the foundation stone ceremony for the Indian School of Agriculture in Madanapalli in Andhra Pradesh on Friday, Sitharaman said the initiative was significant as it coincides with the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Their messages of Swadeshi-Swaraj and Jai Jawan-Jai Kisan placed farmers at the centre of the country’s development, she added.

“Great leaders such as Gandhi and Shastri thought about the welfare of farmers, while leaders such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foundations for several initiatives,” she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had continued this focus through schemes such as the PM-KISAN and measures to ensure adequate availability of fertilisers, the Union Minister said.

Despite global conflicts and supply disruptions, efforts were being made to ensure that farmers do not face shortages, she added.

While the international cost of a bag of urea was around ₹3,000, while farmers in India were getting it for about ₹300. “The Centre bears a subsidy of ₹2,700 on every bag,” she said.

The Government has also introduced climate-resilient crop varieties and schemes such as GOBARdhan for biogas production and PM-KUSUM for providing solar-powered agricultural pumps, she said.

Various schemes were being implemented based on the needs of farmers, including support for aquaculture and livestock farming through joint efforts of the Centre and the State Government.

“The Prime Minister is constantly working with the objective of ensuring better incomes for all farmers engaged in cultivation,” she said.

The Centre and Andhra Pradesh Government were working together to develop all 10 districts of the State as a global horticulture centre, the Union Minister said.