Himachal Budget 2024-25: 36,000 to be trained in natural farming

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, February 17

The agriculture and allied sector emerged as the cornerstone of the second Budget presented by the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government. With an aim to enhance self-employment through this sector and increasing farmers’ income, the Chief Minister made several announcements pertaining to natural farming, animal husbandry and fisheries. He allocated a budget of Rs 582 crore for the Agriculture sector.

High-value crops will be promoted in various areas to enhance farmers’ income under the HP Agriculture Mission. The government will bring 50,000 hectares more land under vegetable cultivation in 2024-25

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Sukhu announced the Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-Up Yojana as the third component of the Rs 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Yojana. He said that 36,000 farmers would be trained to take up natural farming by encouraging at least 10 farmers from every panchayat for chemical-free farming in the first phase. “To motivate unemployed youth to take up natural farming, a maximum of 20 quintals of naturally grown wheat and maize per family will be bought at the MSP of Rs 40 and Rs 30, respectively. The MSP offered is the highest in the country,” he added.

Sukhu announced that high-value crops would be promoted in various areas to enhance farmers’ income under the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Mission. The government would bring 50,000 hectares of additional land under vegetable cultivation in 2024-25. “ A centre of excellence for vegetable nursery production will be established to provide saplings of good quality to farmers,” he said.

The Chief Minister stressed the importance of animal husbandry to raise the farmers’ income and announced a hike in the procurement price of cow milk from Rs 38 per litre to Rs 45 per litre and of buffalo milk from Rs 47 to Rs 55 per litre from April 1. “Himachal Pradesh is the only state in the country that is buying milk at the minimum support price,” he claimed.

The Chief Minister also waived the fees the APMC charges from milk producing societies. He announced that a fully automated milk and milk products plant would be established at Dhagwar in Kangra and an additional plant would be made functional at Duttnagar to produce milk powder, curd, khoya, ghee, ice cream, flavoured milk, processed cheese and other products. Milk Processing Plants with modern technology would be established in Una and Hamirpur at a cost of Rs 50 crore, he added.

He also announced that an artificial insemination training centre would be set up at Darlaghat in Solan district. This facility would be used to train farmers in artificial insemination and providing a good breed of animals. Under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, a centre of excellence would be established at Basal in Una district at a cost of Rs 44 crore with technical assistance from Denmark, he added.

The Chief Minister announced the launch of a ‘Bhed Bakri Paalak Protsahan Yojana’ for improvement in the system of wool harvesting, depletion of traditional pastures and paths, sharp fall in the prices of wool due to changes in the international trade, etc. He said that Rs 10 crore would be spent on the scheme.

Major announcements

• The government will procure a maximum of 20 quintals of naturally grown grains per family at the MSP of Rs 40 per kg and maize at the rate of Rs 30 per kg
• New mandis in various districts of the state
• Chatbot and AI-based tools to be provided on the web-enabled agriculture portal and a mobile app will be launched enabling access to land records
• A hike in MSP from Rs 38 per litre to Rs 45 per litre for cow milk and from Rs 47 to Rs 55 per litre for buffalo milk
• A centre of excellence for vegetable nursery production to be established

Assistance for fisheries

• Fishermen will be given financial assistance for the construction of new fishing ponds in 20 hectares at a subsidy of 80 per cent
• A new centre of excellence having a carp fish farm will be established in Hamirpur district soon
• A brood bank will be set up at Nalagarh-based fish seed farm’ at a cost of Rs 5 crore
• 150 new trout fish production units and two new trout hatcheries will be set up