Maharashtra government plans to provide crop insurance to farmers based on the rain-related conditions, owing to fluctuations in the monsoon rainfall pattern over last two years.

"We have been observing uncertainty in rainfall during monsoon over last two years. While at some places there is heavy rain, at other places it is drought-like situation and then there are hailstorms, as occurred recently, which were not seen in last 100 years," Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said at a function on Thursday.

He said the state government has decided to set up "automatic weather stations" at various locations to aid farmers in receiving real-time information about prevailing weather conditions in their areas. "We want farmers to take help of modern technology in farming," he added.

Chavan was addressing a function at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) here, where he distributed awards, in eight categories, to 80 farmers from various parts of the state.

Chavan alleged that farmers had to incur heavy losses due to the total ban imposed by Central government on the export of the produce.

Chavan said the state government has built weirs at many places so as to make water available to farmers for their crops. "We have built weirs at many places and I will be inaugurating 3,000 'bandhare' (Kolhapur Type Weir or KT Weir). However, we need more funds from Central government for our irrigation schemes," the chief minister said.

Chavan reiterated that Maharashtra is the number one state in country in terms of development and other aspects.

"The horticulture produce like grapes, pomegranates, etc. from the state are being exported," he said, adding that the government is trying to generate lakhs of employment opportunity for youths.

Speaking on the occasion, state Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil observed that the state government has undertaken various initiatives for the benefit of farmers.

"We had organised a national-level agricultural exhibition, 'Krishi Vasant' at Nagpur and lakhs of farmers visited it. Our farmers have taken the state forward. We are now exporting sugar, grapes and other products," he said.

State's Medical Education and Horticulture Minister Jitendra Avhad demanded that a pension scheme be introduced for farmers. "We have already appointed Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador to promote horticulture produce. In previous UPA regime at Centre, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and then Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar took various decisions for the welfare of farmers," he said.

Source - http://www.dnaindia.com/