New Delhi, September 19: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that considering its importance, the Government has accorded top priority to the agriculture sector and Finance Ministry announced Rs 62,376 crore fund allocation for the sector in 2017-18.
Singh said at the Rabi Conference, crop wise target is fixed and arrangement of supplies to different states is decided in consultation with the officials of various state governments. The use of recent technologies and new practices in the agriculture sector is also reviewed. At the conference, strategy for the upcoming Rabi season is discussed, ideas and experiences are exchanged and a roadmap is prepared.
Radha Mohan Singh said that there is a special emphasis is to increase the production and productivity of oilseed crops. For this, the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) has been started in 2014-15, which has three Mini Missions (MM) namely – MM on Oilseeds, MM on Oil Palm and MM on tree-borne oilseeds.
The total production of rice in the country is estimated at 110.15 million tonnes in 2016-17. This is 4.73 million tonnes more than the average rice output of 105.42 million tonnes in the last five years. Production of wheat is also estimated at 98.38 million tonnes, a record. Wheat production in 2016-17 is 6.09 million tonnes more than 92.29 million tonnes during 2016.
Union Agriculture Minister said that the government is also protecting the interests of farmers by announcing the minimum support price for major agricultural commodities.