Union cabinet decisions will provide financial security to farmers, says Uttarakhand CM

The union cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also given its approval to extend the one-time special package on di-ammonium phosphate beyond NBS subsidy from January 1 to December 31, 2025, to ensure continuous availability of DAP to farmers at an affordable price.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister said that these welfare decisions will provide financial security to farmers on crop loss due to natural disasters. Affordable and continuous availability of fertilizer will be ensured, which will increase agricultural production, he said, according to an official release.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the continuation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme till 2025-26 with an overall outlay of Rs 69,515.71 crore from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

The decision will help in risk coverage of crops from non-preventable natural calamities for farmers across the country till 2025-26. In addition, for large-scale technology infusion in the implementation of the scheme leading to increasing transparency and claim calculation and settlement, the Union Cabinet has also approved the creation of the Fund for Innovation and Technology (FIAT) with a corpus of Rs 824.77 crore. The fund will be utilised towards funding technological initiatives under the scheme namely, YES-TECH, and WINDS, as well as research and development studies.

The Union Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for extension of One-time Special Package on Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) beyond the NBS subsidy @ Rs 3,500 per MT for the period from January 1, 2025, till further orders to ensure sustainable availability of DAP at affordable prices to the farmers. The tentative budgetary requirement for above would be approximately upto Rs 3,850 crore. (ANI)