Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 2: Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will visit Maharashtra for a one-day trip on Thursday to address agricultural concerns and engage with local farmers.
Chouhan’s visit will include stops at significant religious sites. He will first visit the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi to offer prayers and then head to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar for darshan. Along with his religious engagements, the Minister will interact with farmers at KVK Baleshwar to hear their concerns and discuss agricultural issues.
Additionally, Chouhan will provide information on government schemes designed to support farmers. He will brief them on various initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, aimed at providing financial security to farmers in case of crop damage.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chouhan announced that the Union Cabinet had approved the extension of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana until 2026. He highlighted that more than 4 crore farmers had benefited from the scheme in 2024 alone. The scheme will cover risk from sowing to crop storage, with an allocated budget of Rs. 69,515 crore.
The Minister also discussed other government decisions, including the advance storage of DAP fertilizers with a Rs. 3,850 crore allocation and the removal of the minimum export price on rice. Chouhan mentioned that India had signed an MoU with Indonesia for the export of one million metric tonnes of non-basmati white rice.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the continuation of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme for the 2021-2026 period, aiming to ensure comprehensive risk coverage for farmers nationwide.