NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government is taking measures to meet rural challenges, chief secretary JN Singh told ET on Friday. The government was focused on improving implementation of schemes related to irrigation, minimum support price and crop insurance for farmers.
Singh, however, said that the people of Gujarat chose the same government even after 22 years because of their "trust in Narendra Modi’s leadership and impact of the state government’s policies."
"The minimum support programme for various crops, including groundnut and cotton, has been taken up by the government in a big way. Nearly 66 lakh quintals of groundnut has been procured at MSP. Storehouses are full, but we are ready to procure 50-60 lakh quintals of groundnut more on MSP. That will provide a lot of relief to farmers," Singh said.
The state government was increasing cold storage capacities to tackle bumper produce of perishable crops. The state had announced procurement of key crops at MSP and waived interest on loans up to Rs. 3 lakh for farmers just before the polls. Since market prices were not matching MSP, several groundnut farmers had pinned hopes on procurement which took time.
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