Government trying to bring policy-level changes for simplifying agriculture: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government is trying to bring policy-level changes for simplifying agriculture. He indicated that providing subsidies on fertiliser, seed and farming equipment through direct benefit transfer (DBT) could be considered in the future.
He said ‘the fertiliser subsidy that the government gives costs to the tune of Rs 2,00,000 crore. A sack of urea costs Rs 265 to the farmers, but it costs Rs 2,400. The subsidy goes to the company. The fertilizer is also used for other purposes-- if there is a reliable system, farmers can be given the subsidy directly in their accounts.’ He also said the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’s cost comes to around Rs 60,000 crore, if the fertilizer subsidy is given through DBT, the bank balance will increase further.
Similarly, the minister said the government will explore if direct benefit transfer can be applied for other subsidies related to agriculture as well, like for drip irrigation, polyhouse or tractors. He also said that the government is considering bearing the transportation cost for agricultural produce so as to enable farmers to sell their products across the country.
He said ‘we are making efforts to simplify agriculture for farmers. Soybean rates went down, so we imposed a 20 per cent duty on import of (soybean) oil--we removed the restriction from export of Basmati rice’. He said ‘that agricultural produce is cheap, but it becomes expensive by the time it reaches cities. We are contemplating how to reduce this difference for the consumer, like if the Centre and states can share the transport expense.’
