Lucknow: UP agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi on Monday said that the state govt has provided relief assistance to more than nine lakh farmers affected by crop losses due to flood, excessive rainfall and cyclones in the current fiscal.
He said that after forming govt in 2017, the first cabinet meeting took the decision to waive loans worth Rs 36,000 crore for 86 lakh farmers. The minister pointed out that while the Mayawati govt spent Rs 10,207 crore on farmers, the Akhilesh Yadav govt spent approximately Rs 12,000 crore. In comparison, the Yogi govt has already spent Rs 69,163 crore on farmers so far, he said. Shahi said that of the Rs 3,200 crore received from the Central govt for disaster relief during the previous govt’s tenure, only Rs 800 crore had been distributed. After the Yogi govt came to power, it transferred Rs 1,200 crore from the remaining amount to farmers’ accounts within seven days. “In the interest of sugarcane farmers, the SAP of sugarcane was increased to Rs 400 per quintal. The previous govt made sugarcane payments of about Rs 62,000 crore over 5 years, while the Yogi govt has made payments of Rs 3.25 lakh crore over 10 years,” said Shahi, stressing that 105 sugar mills in the state were making payments within 15 days. The minister said that since 2017-18, farmers had received compensation amounting to Rs 6,125 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. In 2025-26, 7.31 lakh farmers affected by disasters received Rs 812.76 crore through this scheme. The number of farmers who had enrolled for insurance this year had increased from approximately 18 lakh last year to 23-24 lakh this year. He said that govt was also transferring approximately Rs 5 crore to farmers in Jalaun under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
He asserted that the previous govts, which called themselves “sons of the soil” and “sons of farmers”, did nothing as per the expectation of the farmers. Shahi said that in comparison to the previous SP govt, the Yogi govt spent more than three times on farmer welfare. Shahi said that the CM has directed that surveys and compensation disbursement be expedited.
Shahi was speaking at a programme in Gorakhpur .