Modi govt schemes push agri-growth to 4.1%: Shah

India's agriculture sector grew at the highest rate in three years of 4.1 per cent in 2016-17 as the Modi government launched several schemes to boost production and ensure better returns to farmers, BJP President Amit Shah said today.
On the day the BJP government completed three years in office, Shah in an interview to PTI said that the growth rate in agriculture was contributing to GDP of the country, helping India become the fastest growing major economy in the world.
"During the UPA (regime), farm sector growth was negative. We have achieved 4.1 per cent growth contributing in a big way to the country's GDP," Shah said.

The agri-growth achieved in 2016-17 is lower than 7 per cent in 2010-11, but higher than 1.2 per cent in 2015-16 and minus 0.2 per cent in 2014-15.
Shah also said that higher farm sector growth in 2016-17 is "pumping fresh blood to the country's economy".
Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Soil Health Card, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) and 100 per cent neem coating of urea have contributed to the farm growth, he added.

These initiatives plus good monsoon has helped the country achieve a record foodgrain production of 273.38 million tonnes in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June).

The new initiatives were aimed at reducing the cost of production and ensuring better returns to farmers, who comprise about 50 per cent of the country's population.
Not only minimum support price (MSP) of agri-crops has been raised substantially, Shah said, the government has also revamped the crop insurance scheme by bringing down the premium and full payment of claims.
The relief amount has been raised by 1.5 times and crop damage up to 33 per cent been included for relief, he said.
Since the Independence only 20 per cent farmers were covered under crop insurance, now the target had been increased to 50 per cent by 2018-19, he added.

As 60 per cent of farm land is still dependent on monsoon, the government's PMKSY is focusing speed completion of pending irrigation projects.
The government aims to cover 28.5 lakh hectare under PMKSY, for which Rs 40,000 crore budget has been allocated in 2017-18, Shah said.
On soil health, he said, "All states have taken this project on a mission mode. This is helping farmers to take call what fertilisers/nutrients to be used and in what quantity."
The government also reduced fertiliser prices and introduced neem-coated urea which has curbed black-marketing as
also curbed its consumption in a big way. Besides, the complaints from states CMs has also come down, he added.

More importantly, Shah said the government is trying to link farmers to market and e-mandis are being set up to help them earn better returns. "If you visit villages, you will see farmers are getting 16-22 per cent higher rates for their produce," he added.