Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced welfare schemes covering every need of India’s farmers. She was speaking in Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh’s Annamayya district on October 2.

Sitharaman listed direct benefit schemes such as PM-Kisan and Kisan Credit Cards. She said fertiliser urea costs the government about 3,000 rupees per bag to import, but farmers get it for only 300 rupees.

She also named the PM-KUSUM solar pump scheme, GOBARdhan for biogas, PM Fasal Bima crop insurance, and mobile veterinary units. The government, she said, is even testing nano fertilisers for farmers.

The visit included the foundation stone for the Rayalaseema Global Horticulture Hub. An Indian School of Agriculture is also coming up at Madanapalle, and a national committee will decide its courses.

Sitharaman said the hub and the school will strengthen agriculture in Rayalaseema. She also distributed assistance under the government’s agriculture schemes to local farmers.