Describing micro irrigation and solar power among the priority areas of the State Government, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Monday directed the officers concerned to prepare a scheme to encourage the farmers to shift from flood irrigation to micro irrigation.

Besides, he directed to make efforts to bring more non-loanee farmers under the coverage of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

Manohar Lal was presiding over the first meeting of State Level DISHA Committee here to review the progress of 38 different schemes and programmes of Central and State Government.

The Chief Minister said that micro irrigation is also one of the priority areas of the Centre Government.

He said that as the Centre Government has been liberal towards sanctioning funds for such key areas, the department concerned should prepare a proposal so as to get maximum funds from the Centre under micro irrigation.

He directed the officers concerned to initially take up those blocks in the state which are not yet covered under micro irrigation and work towards ensuring that these blocks are completely switched over to micro irrigation.

The State Government has identified 36 blocks in Haryana as dark zone, he said.

He further directed that special campaigns should be launched in the state to encourage people to save water. Under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, a sum of Rs 51 crore has been approved for this year by the Centre Government, he said

While reviewing the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the Chief Minister directed the Agriculture and Famers’ Welfare Department to widely publicize the scheme and encourage more non-loanee farmers under its coverage.

Efforts are being made towards promoting zero budget farming to make agriculture more profitable. Farmers should be encouraged to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and instead make maximum use of manure and compost, he said.

 The state has total 36 lakh hectares area and over 55.25 lakh soil health cards have been distributed to the farmers in two cycles, he added.

Reviewing the Ujjawala Scheme, the CM said that after January 26, 2019 there would be no household in the state which does not have LPG connection. Out of the 13,53,710 Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) households in the state, LPG connection has been issued to 13,15,887 households, Manohar Lal said.