DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Sandeep Singh said that the State Government is taking important decisions for the improvement of agriculture and upliftment of farmers in the state, besides procuring the crops of farmers at MSP as well as compensating farmers for crop loss due to natural calamity. While interacting in Kurukshetra Sandeep Singh said that during the last year, the State Government has paid more than Rs. 27,000 crore to the farmers for their crops through DBT. The compensation amount for crops damaged due to natural calamity has been increased from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 15,000 per acre. Recently, Rs, 561 crore as compensation for crops damaged in Kharif-2021 and claims worth about Rs. 700 crore have been approved under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Haryana is the only state in the country to procure 14 crops at MSP. Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana has also been started for Bajra from Kharif Marketing Season 2021. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs. 436 crore has been given to 2.40 lakh farmers for the procurement of millet at the rate of Rs. 600 per quintal between the minimum support price and the average market price. He said that Mukhyamantri Bagwani Bima Yojana has been started to promote crop diversification and horticulture to increase the income of the farmers. To promote horticulture, three new Centres of Excellence are being set up at Bhiwani, Nuh and Jhajjar. For mushroom cultivation, 40 percent subsidy is given to general farmers and 90 percent to scheduled caste farmers. Agro-forestry has also been included in the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat scheme for crop diversification and water conservation in the year 2021-22. Under the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat scheme, alternative crops are being promoted in place of paddy. The Sports Minister said that farmers adopting direct seeded rice technology were given an incentive of Rs. 5,000 per acre. The state government is also promoting animal husbandry, bee keeping and fisheries. He said that animal husbandry is a major source of income of the villagers. Under the Mukhya Mantri Dugdh Utpadhak Protsahan Yojna, a subsidy of Rs. 37.9 crore has been given to milk plants in the bank accounts of cooperative milk producers. Under the Haryana Beekeeping Policy-2021, the target is to increase the production of honey by 10 times by the year 2030. (editor@dailyworld.in)