New Delhi, May 20 (IANS): The government will distribute more than 8 lakh soybean mini-kits and 74,000 groundnut mini-kits to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of oilseeds with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare adopting a multi-pronged strategy.
Under the strategy, the government has approved an ambitious plan for the free distribution of high yielding varieties of seeds to the farmers for the Kharif season 2021 in the form of mini-kits. The special Kharif programme will bring an additional 6.37 lakh hectare area under oilseeds and is likely to produce 120.26 lakh quintals of oilseeds and edible oil amounting to 24.36 lakh tonnes.
To become 'Aatmanirbhar' in oilseeds, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has put emphasis on enhancing the productivity of oilseeds by increasing the availability of high yielding varieties of seeds for the farmers.
The special Kharif plan was discussed in detail with the state governments during a webinar in April 2021 and also in the Kharif conference on April 30, 2021. Through these consultations, both area and productivity enhancement has been formulated for soybean and groundnut with a focus on high yielding varieties of seeds to be provided free of cost under the National Food Security Mission (Oilseeds and Oil Palm)
Distribution of soybean seeds for inter-cropping for 41 districts in the 6 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana and Chhattisgarh will cost Rs 76.03 crore and cover 1,47,500 ha.
Distribution of soybean seeds for high potential districts in 73 districts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, UP, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat will cost Rs 104 crore and cover 3,90,000 ha.
Distribution of mini kits in 90 districts of the 9 states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, UP and Bihar will cost Rs 40 crore. The area to be covered will be 1,006,636 ha and the number of mini-kits will be 8,16,435.
The soybean seeds to be distributed will be having a yield of not less than 20 qtl/ha. The distribution of seeds for inter-cropping and high potential districts will be through the state seed agencies and the seeds for the mini-kits will be through the Central seed producing agencies.
Distribution of 74,000 groundnut seed mini kits in the 7 states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will cost Rs 13.03 crore.