Tushar Pawar | May 10, 2022
Nashik: State agriculture minister Dada Bhuse on Monday said the government will spend around Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years to enhance the production of cotton and soybean in Maharashtra.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said plans are afoot under the cluster development project to form farmers’ groups in districts involved in cultivation of these two crops and help them in enhancing production.
“The cluster projects are to be implemented in the district where cotton and soybeans are cultivated by farmers. Apart from increasing the productivity of these two crops, marketing and transporting network will also be developed,” he said.
According to reports from state agriculture department, both cotton and soybean are major kharif crops as they overall contribute to 58% of the total 160 lakh hectare under kharif cultivation across the state. The area under cultivation for soybean and cotton are estimated at 46.17 lakh hectare and 39.54 lakh hectare, respectively.
After reviewing the preparation of kharif sowing in Nashik revenue division comprising five districts — Nashik, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar — Bhuse said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted good rainfall this kharif season, but farmers should not start sowing until adequate showers are received.
According to Bhuse, the state government has requested the Centre for 52 lakh tonne of fertilisers for the kharif season, but only 45 lakh tonne was approved. “We have prepared plans to ensure that farmers get seeds and fertilizers as per their requirement,” he said.
The agriculture department has projected sowing of kharif crops on 27.50 lakh hectare in Nashik revenue division. This includes cotton on 10.32 lakh hectare, maize (4.58 lakh hectare), Soybean (2.84 lakh hectare), bajra (2.38 lakh hectare) and paddy (1.20 lakh hectare). Bhuse also said the state, in order to promote drip irrigation, has increased the subsidy from 45% to 75%.
(Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com)