More than one lakh farmers in the rain-fed areas in 131 taluks in 25 districts have benefited from the Krishi Bhagya scheme, which aims at efficient management of rainwater to improve agriculture productivity, in the past three years.
As per details made available to The Hindu here on Sunday, the government has extended ₹ 968.37 crore financial assistance and grants to help over one lakh farmers in the rain-fed areas. Under the Krishi Bhagya scheme, the emphasis is on helping farmers take up water conservation measures such as constructing farm ponds in their agriculture land and saving every drop of rainwater for use during dry spells to protect standing crops.
The scheme is being implemented in five agro climatic zones that receive an average annual rainfall ranging between 450 mm and 850 mm, though it has become more erratic in the recent years. With the climatic change phenomenon becoming more visible in the recent years in the form of longer dry spells or more intense rainy days, the State is experiencing frequent droughts as well as floods in these regions.
The aim of the scheme-assisted projects is to assure water for sustainable agriculture in these areas as well as adoption of efficient technology of water-usage to obtain more crops per drop of water.
During 2014-15, ₹ 484.17 crore was released as subsidies to farmers under the scheme and in 2015-16, ₹ 347.56 crore was spent under the programme. During 2016-17, till the end of December, ₹ 151.61 crore has been spent.
According to details available, 2,459 framers have constructed polyhouses and put up shadenets to grow high-value vegetables and flower crops to earn higher income using the assistance provided under the programme.
