New Delhi, 29 September (H.S.): Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said that the interests of the country’s farmers, whom he described as its “annadatas” or food providers, remain paramount. He said farmers’ interests had been accorded the highest priority in every major policy decision and international agreement concerning the country.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan said India’s agricultural growth rate had risen from 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent. During the second day of the two-day National Agriculture Conference – Rabi Campaign 2026, he also handed over financial sanction letters worth more than Rs 1,200 crore on the stage itself to agriculture ministers of 10 states under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY).

Addressing agriculture ministers and senior officials from various states at the C. Subramaniam Auditorium in Pusa, New Delhi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said governments and political parties would come and go, while parties would be formed and dissolved, but the nation and its farmers would endure.

He said the Centre and the states must rise above partisan politics and work in the spirit of “Team Agriculture” to ensure the country’s food security and improve farmers’ livelihoods. “There is no politics on this platform; the only objective is to determine how agriculture can be improved and how farmers can progress,” he said.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan distributed PM-RKVY sanction letters worth Rs 290 crore to West Bengal, Rs 198 crore to Haryana, Rs 181 crore to Chhattisgarh, Rs 154 crore to Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 114 crore to Bihar, Rs 104 crore to Karnataka, Rs 75 crore to Mizoram, Rs 64 crore to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 58 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 43 crore to Punjab.

He said the Central government was not merely formulating policies but was also ensuring that states received resources in a timely manner so that implementation of schemes could begin promptly on the ground.

Detailing India’s agricultural performance, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that since 2015, the country’s agricultural growth rate had increased from 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent. The average annual increase in foodgrain production, he said, had more than doubled from around four million tonnes earlier to approximately 8.4 million tonnes a year.

He further said that in just two years, from 2023-24 to 2025-26, rabi foodgrain production had registered an unprecedented increase of 20.5 million tonnes. He attributed the historic rise to the collective efforts of state agriculture departments, scientists and farmers.

Announcing a new mechanism to strengthen cooperative federalism, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that, on the lines of the Centre’s weekly reviews, regular virtual review meetings with the states would now be held every month to monitor progress continuously.

At the state level, a strong State Agriculture Team would be constituted by bringing together the agriculture minister, agriculture secretary, state agricultural universities, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), progressive farmers, processors, exporters and nodal officers of the Government of India.

At the district level, monthly meetings would bring together district collectors, Deputy Directors of Agriculture, ATMA representatives, KVKs, ICAR scientists, bankers and farmers.

Setting an annual calendar for interface meetings to ensure advance preparation for agricultural campaigns, Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed that district-level meetings for the kharif season be held every year on May 10, followed by state-level meetings on May 17. Similarly, district-level and state-level meetings for the rabi campaign would mandatorily be held on September 10 and September 17, respectively.

In addition, a special one-day meeting would be held nationwide on a single designated day, bringing agriculture ministers, officials and agricultural scientists together simultaneously across the country to discuss issues concerning farmers.

On soil health and environmental protection, the Union Minister called for a nationwide “Save the Fields Campaign” from October 22 to November 30 this year. Scientists and other key stakeholders would actively participate in the campaign.

The campaign would promote balanced fertiliser use based on Soil Health Cards, with the objective of protecting soil fertility as well as beneficial insects and other elements of the agricultural ecosystem.

As part of preparations for the rabi season, Shivraj Singh Chouhan stressed that farmers should be advised to select crops and improved seeds according to soil moisture and water availability. He also directed officials to put in place robust measures to protect crops from diseases and pests, ensure that all eligible farmers were covered under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, and conduct transparent crop-cutting experiments under the crop insurance scheme.

The Union Agriculture Minister said the government was pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that farmers received fair and remunerative prices for their produce. The strategy included post-harvest management, scientific warehousing and stronger marketing arrangements.

He said the government would ensure 100 per cent procurement of tur, urad and masoor at the Minimum Support Price (MSP), with arrangements for payment to farmers within 48 hours.

Union Ministers of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary, Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra, and ICAR Director General Dr. M. L. Jat were among those present at the conference, along with senior officials, scientists and representatives of various agricultural institutions from the Centre and the states.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar