Rajasthan govt approves Rs 463 cr to strengthen micro irrigation system

The Rajasthan government has approved Rs 463 crore to strengthen the micro irrigation system in the state.
 

The revised Rajasthan Micro Irrigation Scheme will help 50,000 farmers construct farm ponds in the next two years. The government proposes to spend over Rs 260 crore on this, a senior official said.
 

He said non-small-marginal farmers of scheduled caste-tribe would get an additional subsidy of 10 per cent like small and marginal farmers. To provide them support, the limit of subsidy for the construction of plastic lining farm ponds has been increased to Rs 1.20 lakh from Rs 90,000.
 

In the next two years, 40,000 farmers will be given subsidies for the 16,000-irrigation pipeline, on which Rs 43.20 crore will be spent in 2023-24. At the same time, Rs 158 crore will be spent on constructing 5,000 small ponds in 2023-24.
 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the proposal of extending the payment of short-term crop loans of Kharif-2022. Now, the farmers will have to repay their loans by June 30, or 12 months after taking the loans, whichever is earlier.  This decision will provide additional time for the farmers to repay their loans. Similarly, a financial proposal of Rs 736 crore, including Rs 560 crore under the interest-free crop loan subsidy scheme and Rs 176 crore under the compensatory interest subsidy scheme, has been approved.  
 

Besides, the farmers will be given a 5 per cent interest subsidy on repaying long-term agriculture cooperative loans on time. The state has also decided to give a 5 per cent interest subsidy from 2023-24 to the farmers taking housing loans to build houses in their fields.