HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Oct 7: Adding a fresh momentum to the growth of agriculture in the state, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday launched the distribution of Soil Health Cards (SHC) to farmers across the state.
Sarma also initiated the process of distributing farm machinery and the inauguration of agriculture knowledge centres at a programme held at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalakshetra here.
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Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister termed the day as historic saying that the state government initiated the process of distributing Soil Health Cards based on the need for farmers’ empowerment.
Simultaneously, along with expanding the distribution of Soil Health Cards to provide incentives to the farmers, the government is working for the all-round welfare of the farmers of the state.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the initiative to issue Soil Health Cards in 2015. In view of this, the Government of Assam has set the target of issuing 10 lakh SHCs in the state, out of which four lakh SHCs have already been prepared.
Sarma said that to examine the suitability of agricultural soil, the number of laboratories in the state has been increased from 5 to 22. Furthermore, the CM also mentioned that the government has also taken steps to set up 816 village-level farm machinery banks across the state.
Meanwhile, for establishing these farm machinery banks, the Centre has given a 95 per cent subsidy. CM further notified that along with 96 agriculture knowledge banks, steps have been taken under the APART scheme to inaugurate 93 offices of Agricultural Development Officer across the state.
Sarma said that the decision of the government to procure paddy with minimum support price has generated optimism in agriculture. He said that sometimes since the paddy procurement centres are far from villages, the farmers need to face additional financial burden in bringing the paddy.
Sarma, therefore, announced that the government would provide subsidy to the farmers against every quintal for bringing their paddy to the procurement centres. This would help in minimising the transportation cost of the farmers. He also said that for the ethanol industry, the requirements of maize and wheat have increased considerably.
Moreover, the state government along with OIL India Limited and Reliance are in the process of producing bio-fuel in the state. Sarma also thanked agriculture minister Atul Bora for the revival of agriculture in the state, which according to him is contributing to the goal of Atmanirbhar Asom.
He on the occasion also expressed his gratitude to the farmers of the state for being anchors of Atmanirbhar Asom.
Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, chief secretary Dr Ravi Kota, chairman Assam Seed Corporation Prabin Hazarika, principal secretary revenue GD Tripathy and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
