As the monsoon approaches, it is sowing season in Gujarat. Farmers are looking for high-quality seeds at reasonable prices. However, no farmer has profited from the Seed Village Programme or the Beej Gramme Yojana in the last two years because the Central Government did not disburse any funds in 2021-22 or 2022-23.
On the one hand, farmers are allegedly misled into purchasing duplicate seeds. To address farmers’ demand for high-quality seeds at reasonable prices, the Centre created the Seed Village Programme (Beej Gramme Yojana) in 2014. This scheme provides financial help for the distribution of foundation/certified seeds at 50% of seed cost for cereal crops and 60% for pulses, oilseeds, fodder, and green manure crops for up to one acre per farmer. When the Beej Gramme Yojana originally began in 2014, it benefited 11,052 farmers in the state. As many as 1,223 farmers will benefit the next year. According to government data, no farmer benefited from the programme in 2016 or 2017.
In 2018, the government paid incentives to 1,849 farmers, 7,301 farmers in 2019, and 15,984 farmers in 2020. However, no farmer in Gujarat profited from this plan in 2021 or 2022. In response to a question from MP Upendrasinh Rawat in the Lok Sabha on March 21, 2023, the government admitted that in 2020-21, the central government provided funds totaling Rs 156.30 lakh for the scheme, which were fully utilised, and that no funds were released by the government in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
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