New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu said the government is working towards modernisation and self-reliance in the agriculture sector while focusing on boosting farmers' income, in her customary address to the Parliament.
Her address that marks the beginning of the Budget Session where Union Budget for 2025-2026 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Murmu, in her speech delivered in Hindi, harped on India's record foodgrain production of 332 million tonnes in 2023-24.
"We aim to achieve modernisation and self-reliance in the agriculture sector," she said, underscoring that "the government is dedicated to ensuring better returns for farmers."
Rs 41,000 crore, she said, was distributed to millions of farmers under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in recent months. She added that the approval of Tribuvan Sahakai University has been granted to promote prosperity through cooperatives.
"In recent years, cooperative societies have also expanded in urban areas. Various initiatives taken for economic empowerment of the cooperative sector are creating numerous employment opportunities," Murmu said in her first address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
This year(2025) is celebrated as the International Year of Cooperatives. India will play a significant role in this global initiative, she said. Among key initiatives, Murmu listed the approval of a National Mission on Oilseeds as means to increase production and achieve self-reliance in edible oils.
According to her, the agri-infrastructure fund scheme will strengthen farm infrastructure and generate rural employment across the country.
The government has increased the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for both rabi and kharif crops, spending three times more funds in the last decade on wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and coarse cereals. Recently, 109 high-yield, climate-resilient, and bio-fortified seed varieties have been made available to farmers in the last six months. A special package with additional subsidy has been announced for making DAP fertilisers affordable.
Aquaculture will be promoted through 11 Integrated Aqua Parks which are being established, she said, adding that Mission Mausam is launched with a total outlay of Rs 2,000-crore, aimed at benefiting farmers.
On river interlinking projects, the President said the government has made headway on two historic projects, providing irrigation and drinking water in the drought-affected areas of the country.
The Ken-Betwa Link Project, she said, is undertaken at a cost of over Rs 44,000 crore. It will aide millions of people in rural areas of and Uttar Pradesh and the revised Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link Project will address irrigation and drinking water needs in Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh will benefit from both projects.
Also, an additional Rs 12,000 crore was sanctioned to expedite the Polavaram Irrigation Project, she said.
