Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed hope on Saturday that the ‘PM Krishi Dhan-Dhaanya Yojana’ would prove to be a game changer, and a new episode of progress would be written in the agricultural development of the country.
The CM’s statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a milk powder plant built at a cost of Rs 76.50 crore in Indore, which was among several projects in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing sectors inaugurated by him via video conferencing at an event held in New Delhi today.
The milk powder plant, set up under the Indore Cooperative Milk Union, has a production capacity of 30 metric tonnes of milk powder per day.
Dr Yadav thanked Modi for dedicating the facility and said the unit, established under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), would bolster the growth of the state’s dairy sector.
“Madhya Pradesh’s current contribution to national milk production is about nine per cent, and we aim to raise it to 20 per cent in the next five years. The state government is committed to ensuring fair prices for farmers working in the milk sector,” he said.
The CM said that the Modi-led government has consistently increased the minimum support price (MSP) for wheat and soybean in recent years, benefiting farmers in the state.
The state government, he said, has recently introduced a Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (price difference payment scheme) for soybean growers to ensure they receive fair prices for their produce.
Officials explained that if traders in the state’s mandis purchased soybean from farmers at rates lower than the MSP fixed by the Centre, the state government will pay farmers the difference from the treasury to offset their losses.
“The Bhavantar amount will be directly credited to farmers’ bank accounts, bringing them cheer ahead of Dhanteras,” Dr Yadav remarked.