The government will launch a new crop insurance scheme with a clause guaranteeing minimum income to cultivators in case of a natural calamity, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Tuesday said.

"We announced last year that the new crop insurance scheme will be in place next year (2015). I want to announce that the new scheme is going to entail minimum income clause for farmers," he said.

Singh was speaking during a national conference on crop insurance here.

The scheme is designed to provide income security as well as insurance against crop losses suffered from calamities, he added.

The government is dedicated to the upliftment of villages, the poor and farmers and has unveiled many welfare schemes for these sections of the society, Singh said.

Singh blasted the previous UPA Government for not moving ahead on soil health management plan even after the UN's advice to countries to work in this area in 2007-08.

"The previous Congress-led government made a budgetary allocation of just Rs 72 crore for soil health management between 2007 and 2014," he said.

The Centre has already released "huge" money to the states for issuance of soil health cards to farmers, Singh added.

Speaking at the conference, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state escaped adverse impact of global economic slowdown because its economy is primarily based on agriculture.

Madhya Pradesh's GDP clocked "spectacular" growth in the last eight years, expanding by 10 percent or above due to spurt in agriculture activities, he said.

Chouhan said nearly 65 percent of the state's population is engaged in farming and efforts are being made to make the sector more productive and lucrative.

Source - Zeenews