The Agriculture Department is working at various levels to strengthen the farmers of Jharkhand state economically, said State Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperation Minister Deepika Pandey while reacting after the passing of three proposals related to the interest of farmers of the Agriculture Department in the Cabinet Council meeting on August 7. Deepika Pandey said that to provide relief to the farmers of the state, while the amount of loan waiver scheme has been increased from Rs 50 thousand to Rs 2 lakh, a provision of Rs 30 crore has been made in the budget for Crop Protection Scheme and Rs 50 lakh for Birsa Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme and a proposal of Rs 750 crore has been made. Proposals passed by the Agriculture Department in the meeting of the Council of Ministers: 1. Jharkhand Agriculture Loan Waiver Scheme: Jharkhand Agriculture Loan Waiver Scheme is a very ambitious farmer welfare scheme of the state government which has been operated from the financial year 2020-21 to the financial year 2023 - 24. Till now, a total of Rs. 1900.35 crore loan of a total of 4,73,567 farmers of the state has been waived. The benefit of this scheme is given to those rayat, non-rayat of the state who have taken short term crop loan from any bank located in the state. The outstanding amount up to Rs 50,000 in the standard crop loan outstanding accounts till 31-03-2020 has been waived under this scheme. There has been a constant demand from the farmers to increase this amount to Rs 2,00,000. Taking cognizance of this demand, the Agriculture Minister had placed a proposal before the Council of Ministers, making departmental consent to increase the amount to be waived to Rs 2,00,000. The approval of the Council of Ministers was given on this proposal yesterday on 07- 08 - 2024. Therefore, in the financial year 2024-25, the benefit of loan waiver up to Rs 2,00,000 will be given to the farmers of the state, on which an expenditure of about Rs 750 crore is likely. 2. Birsa Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: This scheme will be implemented again in the state from the financial year 2024-25. The benefit of this scheme will be given to the farmers of the state in the form of financial assistance in case of crop loss in an emergency situation. A total budgetary provision of Rs 50 crore has been received for the implementation of this scheme, for which an additional provision of Rs 250 crore is proposed in the supplementary budget. 3. Crop Protection Program Scheme: Under the State Scheme, an amount of Rs 30 crore has been approved for the implementation of Crop Protection Program Scheme for the financial year 2024-25 to increase crop production and quality productivity in the agriculture sector. The objective of this scheme is to strengthen the plant protection center working in the state by equipping it with manpower, plant protection chemicals and equipment etc. and to bring awareness among the farming community about pests and diseases in crops.

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