Maharashtra Govt to double farmer income in 5 years: Governor

The Maharashtra Government has taken a slew of measures to double farmer income in the next five years and address the issue of agrarian distress, said Governor Vidyasagar Rao.

The state remains a preferred destination for foreign investment as it accounted for 50 percent of the total FDI inflow in India in the past six months, he said.

Rao was addressing a joint sitting of the state legislature on the first day of the Budget session.

In addition to attracting a major share of FDI and taking efforts to accelerate economic growth, the Government had initiated a slew of farmer-friendly measures in form of sustainable development schemes, marketing support, crop insurance, water conservation, irrigation and agriculture diversification, he said.

"These measures are directed at mitigating agrarian distress and increasing agriculture productivity. They will also contribute in doubling of farmer income in the next five years," the Governor told the members of both Houses.

Rao said Maharashtra leads in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yogana, operationalised in the state from 2016 kharif season. Around 1.08 crore farmers have enrolled themselves in the crop insurance scheme.

Nearly 80 lakh soil health cards have been distributed to farmers in order to ensure balanced and effective use of fertilisers, the Governor said.

A state-sponsored scheme has been started from this year to disseminate information regarding farm technologies and facilitate timely distribution of inputs, Rao said.

The Government will install automatic weather stations in every revenue circle from the kharif season this year to help farmers get accurate climate forecast, he said.

A micro irrigation scheme to cover nearly 1.25 lakh hectare of land over the next three years will be promoted to mitigate the recurring drought-like situation in Marathwada, the Governor told the legislature.

He said the Government has decided to prioritise completion of 26 unfinished irrigation projects, that are included in the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, in the next three years.

This will create additional irrigation potential of 5.56 lakh hectare, the Governor added.