CHANDIGARH: After the war of words with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh over the farm agitation, the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana has claimed supremacy over its neighbouring state in agriculture.
The Haryana government, in an elaborate press release, has claimed that Haryana’s rate of agricultural growth is 6.3% and Punjab’s rate is only 2.1%. For sugarcane farmers, the Haryana government has set up 11 sugar mills in the state, but even as the total number of sugar mills in Punjab is 15, only nine mills are in a working condition.
“Haryana is far ahead of its ‘elder brother’ Punjab with regard to giving farmers a price for their crops and procuring them at the minimum support price. In Haryana, 11 crops including, wheat, barley, gram, sunflower, mustard, paddy, moong, maize, millet, cotton and groundnut, are purchased at the MSP, while in Punjab only three crops - namely wheat, paddy and sunflower - are procured at MSP,” the Haryana release claimed and gave a detailed comparison chart of the agriculture policies of both states.
The total geographical area of Haryana is 44,212 sq km and Punjab is spread across 50,362 sq km. Similarly, the cultivable land in Haryana is 37.41 lakh hectare and in Punjab is 42 lakh hectare.
Haryana also claimed that its ‘Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana’, that gives reserve price of 21 types of fruits and vegetables, is being discussed among the farmers of the whole country. There is no similar scheme in Punjab, the release claimed. “The Haryana government has connected 81 mandis of the state with the e-NAM portal for farmers who want to sell their crops at the inter-state level after comparing the demand and good prices, while only 37 mandis of Punjab have been connected with the said portal. In the last few years, 76 water and soil testing laboratories have been set up in the state by spreading awareness among the farmers while in Punjab only 61 such laboratories are said to have been started. Haryana is probably the only state in the country where the farmers visiting the mandis and the arhtiyas working there are provided with an insurance of Rs 10 lakh while there is no such scheme in Punjab,” Haryana claimed.
According to the Haryana government data, about 17 lakh farmers got about Rs 4,000 crore as crop insurance. Besides this, an amount of Rs 7,000 crore was also given to more than 34 lakh farmers in lieu of compensation for other losses to the farmers. However, the Punjab government has not started any crop-insurance scheme for its farmers. Haryana claimed.
