Many challenges are going to come before the new Agriculture Minister
11-Jun-2024 05:53 PM
New Delhi. The departments of various ministers have been announced in the new government formed at the Center.
Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan has been given the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. He is a very experienced politician and administrator and has been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh four times.
Now he will have to make Herculean efforts to improve the condition of the agriculture sector at the national level as well as in his home state.
In the last 10 years i.e. from 2014-15 to 2023-24, the average annual growth rate of the agriculture sector in Madhya Pradesh was recorded at 6.5 percent,
which was much higher than the national average growth rate of 3.7 percent during the same period. The new Agriculture Minister will need to formulate a new strategy to infuse new life into the Indian agriculture sector and especially to address the problems, difficulties and concerns of the farmers.
Many challenges are going to be presented before 65-year-old Shivraj Singh Chauhan. During the 2023-24 season, the monsoon rainfall was erratic due to the effect and outbreak of El Nino, which adversely affected agricultural production.
The new Agriculture Minister will first have to determine the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops and get it approved by the Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs as the sowing season has already begun.
There is no doubt that as Chief Minister, Chouhan made a strong effort to make Madhya Pradesh a powerhouse of the agriculture sector and he also achieved great success in it.
Madhya Pradesh has become the second largest producer of wheat in India after Uttar Pradesh and the second largest contributor of this important food grain to the central pool after Punjab.
Madhya Pradesh today remains the leading producer of soybean, gram, lentils, garlic, coriander, fenugreek and tomato in the country, while ginger (saunth), onion, mustard and maize are also produced there on a large scale.
During the last 10 years, the charge of the Union Agriculture Ministry was in the hands of stalwarts like Radha Mohan Singh,
Narendra Singh Tomar and Arjun Munda who made great efforts for the development and expansion of this sector. Now the responsibility of not only maintaining that effort, success and achievement but also increasing it further will be on Shivraj Singh Chouhan.