Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan would embark on a one-day visit to Maharashtra on Thursday.
During his visit, the Union Minister will stop at key religious sites and engage with local farmers to address agricultural concerns. Shivraj Singh Chouhan will begin his trip with a visit to the Sai Baba temple in Shirdi, where he will offer prayers, followed by a trip to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar for darshan.
Apart from his religious activities, Chouhan will meet with farmers in the area to learn about their experiences. He will hold discussions with them at the KVK Baleshwar center. As part of his effort to promote government initiatives, the Minister will also inform the farmers about various farmer-centric schemes introduced by the Central Government.
Earlier on Wednesday, Union Minister Chouhan announced that the Union Cabinet had approved the extension of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana until 2026. He highlighted that over 4 crore farmers benefited from this scheme in 2024.
“Today, the Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the PM Fasal Bima Yojana until 2026, with a total budget of Rs. 69,515.71 crore. The coverage will include risks from sowing to storage… Last year, over 8 crore farmer applications were received, benefiting more than 4 crore farmers who received claims totaling Rs. 1.70 lakh crore. The scheme will continue until 2026,” Chouhan said.
He further mentioned that the government has decided to pre-store DAP fertilizers, with Rs. 3,850 crore allocated for this purpose.
Additionally, Chouhan shared that the government has removed the minimum export price on rice. He also announced an MoU between India and Indonesia to facilitate 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 Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme until 2025-26, with an overall outlay of Rs. 69,515.71 crore for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. This decision will provide risk coverage for crops affected by non-preventable natural calamities across the country through 2025-26.
