Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched Rs 23,300 crore initiatives related to agriculture and animal husbandry sectors at Washim in Maharashtra.

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Modi, who is on a one-day visit to Maharashtra, arrived at the Nanded airport in the morning, from where he was flown to Washim in a helicopter.

In Washim, he offered prayers at the Jagdamba Mata temple in Poharadevi. He later paid tributes to Sant Sevalal Maharaj and Sant Ramrao Maharaj at their 'samadhis' (memorials) in Poharadevi.

The PM then inaugurated Banjara Virasat Museum, celebrating the rich heritage of Banjara community. During an event held later, Modi disbursed PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi's 18th instalment of Rs 20,000 crore to around 9.4 crore farmers.

With the release of this instalment, around Rs 3.45 lakh crore have been released to farmers under this scheme, officials said.

The PM also launched the 5th instalment of NaMo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana disbursing about Rs 2,000 crore. He inaugurated more than 7,500 projects under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), worth over Rs 1,920 crore.

The major projects include custom hiring centres, primary processing units, warehouses, sorting and grading units, cold storage projects, post-harvest management projects among others.

The PM also launched 9,200 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with a combined turnover of around Rs 1,300 crore.

He launched the Unified Genomic Chip for cattle and indigenous sex-sorted semen technology. This initiative aims to increase availability of sex sorted semen at affordable price to farmers and reduce the cost by around Rs 200 per dose.

Unified Genomic Chip, GAUCHIP for indigenous cattle and MAHISHCHIP for buffaloes, have been developed along with genotyping services. With the implementation of genomic selection, young high-quality bulls can be identified at an early age.

Modi inaugurated five solar parks with a total capacity of 19 MW across 'Maharashtra under 'Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0'.

During the programme, he also honoured beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, the Maharashtra government's financial assistance scheme for women.