Chennai, Mar 14 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday said the

Central and the State governments were committed towards the welfare of the farmers.

Speaking after launching the Kanchi-Kisan Advancement through Cashless Innovation,

a digital farmer financial inclusion platform developed by the National Agro Foundation

and Center for Digital Financial Inclusion, for the benefit of farmers, rural women and

their organizations at the Raj Bhavan here, he said under the Prime Minister Krishi

Sincahi Yojana, aimed at water management which forms the basis and life line of farming,

4.82 lakh hectares have been covered under micro irrigation in the last six years and it was

extended to an additional area of one lakh hectare.

He said 15.2 lakh farmers have been covered under Prime Minster Fasal Bima Yojana and

Rs.487.37 crores have been given as premium subsidy by the State Government.

'Similarly, under the soil health card scheme 57.63 lakh soil health cards have been distributed

to the farmers', he added.

Observing that Tamil Nadu was a leading state in financial inclusion with over 88.52 lakh Jan

Dhan accounts, Mr Purohit said through these schemes, the government was committed to

increase the farmers’ income.

He further emphasized that by strengthening Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs), farmers

could get better price for their produce and said that use of digital technologies would help

strengthen the business operations of FPOs.

He also said that the Tamilnadu Government has amended the APMC act in order to join the

e-NAM platform.

The Governor said the Digital platform--KANCHI--2ould help farmers to link with banks and

markets and expressed confidence that by using this platform, they could get better access

to credit and market thereby improving their socio-economic status.

He also said that such innovative technologies would play a significant role in the Digital India initiatives of the Prime Minister.

During the occasion, he distributed the digital share certificates to the members of Farmer

Producer Organizations promoted by NAF in Tamil Nadu.

UNI GV 1644