Khattar govt will protect farmers’ interest: Haryana Agri minister

Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Jai Prakash Dalal said that the central government has implemented three new ordinances in the interest of farmers which will benefit the farmers to a great extent.

Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Jai Prakash Dalal said on Sunday that opposition parties in the state were trying to mislead farmers over Centre’s farm ordinances. “The state government will protect the interests of farmers,” he said, adding that farmers in Haryana are sensible and will not be misled by false propaganda.

The agriculture minister was addressing mediapersons at Bhiwani. Dalal said that the central government has implemented three new ordinances in the interest of farmers which will benefit the farmers to a great extent. “Farmers have been given exemption on sale of crops and MSP will not be reduced in any way,” he assured. He said that on the pattern of One Nation, One Market, now the farmers will be free to sell their produce in any state. “This will enable barrier-free inter-state trade of agricultural produce. Moreover, farmers will not be compelled to take their produce to the market. It has been decided to remove items like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onions and potatoes from the list of essential commodities by amending the Essential Commodities Act, 1956. With this decision, freedom to produce, store, transport and distribute would make it possible to produce on a large scale.”

He said that the central government has also approved the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020.

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“This ordinance will give farmers the freedom to buy and sell goods on the basis of equality without fear of exploitation,” the farmer said, adding that a big step has been taken towards ‘One Country, One Market’ for agricultural products. “The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 allows farmers to sell their produce to any person or institution in the country. Now, it will justly be on the lines of One Nation, One Market.”

While presenting the detailed data, he said that the production of food grains in the year 2013-14 was 153.54 lakh metric tonnes and it rose to 181.44 lakh metric tonnes in 2018-19 due to timely availability of seed manure, pesticides and adequate quantity of canal water. Dalal said, “An amount of only Rs 164.30 crore was given to the farmers from the year 2005 to 2014 in the name of crop insurance in the state, while the present state government proved that it is farmer friendly government by giving Rs 2,545.96 crore to the farmers during the years 2016 to 2019”.