The first thing in everyone’s mind on hearing the name of Punjab Farming And the matter of prosperity comes to the fore. People think that Punjab produces the maximum number of crops in the country. In such a situation, the farmers here will be the happiest. But even after so much prosperity in Punjab, there is a heavy burden of loans on the farmers here. central government As against the average amount of Rs 74,121 in the country, every agricultural household in Punjab has an outstanding loan of over Rs 2 lakh, according to the . The special thing is that Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar himself has given this information in Rajya Sabha.
According to the status assessment and survey of agricultural households, Punjab ranks third in the country in terms of average debt per agricultural household. Whereas, Punjab ranks second in the country in terms of monthly income per agricultural household. At the same time, experts believe that due to the increasing production cost of crops, the burden of loans has increased on the farmer families here. The special thing is that when the Union Minister was asked in the Rajya Sabha whether there is currently any scheme proposed to provide debt relief to the farmers, he said that after the closure of the farm loan waiver and debt relief scheme by the Center The plan has not been implemented.
Production costs have gone up and profits have gone down
According to the Daily Tribune, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that he has taken other initiatives to reduce the debt burden of farmers, so that they can be freed from the clutches of moneylenders. The farmers are demanding a complete loan waiver from the government. At the same time, agricultural expert Devinder Sharma said that this shows that the expenditure is more than the income of the farmers. Production costs have gone up and profits have gone down. He said that now the farmers of Punjab should focus on diversification of crops.
actual figures are much higher
At the same time, this year Punjab was the most affected state after Assam and Uttar Pradesh due to heavy rains, as thousands of acres of crops were destroyed due to this. Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said in the Rajya Sabha that in 2022, 82,727 hectares of crops were destroyed in Punjab. However, the farmers of Punjab have strongly opposed the figures of the government. According to him, the actual figures are much more than this.
Punjab has not opted for PMFBY
BKU (Dakonda) general secretary Jagmohan Singh said that the figures are not close to the ground reality. The government had to do Girdawari and compensation should have been given to the farmers. However, nothing happened. Tomar said, we are the ones who introduced the yield-based Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the weather-based Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme. The schemes were launched in 2016 to provide financial assistance to farmers suffering from crop damage arising out of natural calamities, adverse weather events and to stabilize the income of farmers. Punjab has not opted for PMFBY.
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