Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked his opponents for spreading rumours about fertiliser and cooking gas shortages following the war in West Asia to defame him, reminding the farmers of his promise to stand by them as he laid foundation stones for development projects worth over ₹ 14,000 crore and released the 24th instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.
“But some people do not like this. These are the people who want to see the country in crisis. He stressed that farmers should be able to earn from cow dung through biogas and bio-CNG. On agriculture, he accused previous governments of deception in the name of the Minimum Support Price (MSP). “But our government has fulfilled its promise on MSP. We have brought scientific advancements into farming as well as animal husbandry. The Soil Health Card is an excellent example of this initiative.”
He cited the rising cost of fertilisers and said one bag of urea costs ₹ 3,000 in the international market, but Indian farmers get it for less than one-tenth of that price or under ₹ 300 per bag. Modi said the international price of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) is ₹ 5,000 per bag, but Indian farmers continue to get it at ₹ 1,350. He said nearly ₹ 4.5 lakh crore has been directly transferred to the bank accounts of small farmers under PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi alone. Over the past 12 years, wheat and paddy farmers have received ₹ 24 lakh crore through MSP,” he said. He said more than 260 million soil health cards have been issued and nearly 3,000 new varieties of seeds have been provided to meet the challenge of climate change. “Over the past 12 years, our government has extensively integrated science and technology into agriculture.
He said the government is bearing the additional cost burden so that farmers can lead better and more prosperous lives.
Modi said tensions in the Gulf are still ongoing, but the government did not let the burden of increased fertiliser prices fall on farmers. He said everyone is working towards making India a developed nation. They feel happy when they see the country in crisis,” said Modi, who is on a two-day visit to his home state of Gujarat. Modi, who began the day with a roadshow in Banaskantha, told a gathering of farmers that when the nation was facing uncertainties and tensions in the Gulf, his opponents spread rumours. “In recent years, thanks to our government’s policies, farmers have received or saved more than ₹ 50 lakh crore,” he said, citing five schemes. Modi credited government initiatives and said the average daily milk yield has risen. “More than 1.5 billion doses of vaccination have been administered against cattle diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, covering over 80 million farmers,” he said. On fisheries, he said India’s seafood production has more than doubled. “Agriculture is our culture,” he said.
