Government today said it will soon come out with a new crop insurance scheme in which farmers will have to pay lower premium and remove anomalies in claim settlement. Replying to a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the drought situation, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said nine states, including Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand, have been affected but the government had put in place contingency plans which has limited its impact. He also said the Government will set up a Committee to look into the revamp of Minimum Support Price. Mr Singh said, the government, for the first time in the history, has created buffer stocks of pulses to meet its shortage in future.<br/><br/>Mr Singh also vowed to create a national market for agricultural produce by May 2017, and provide soil health card to every farmer by March 2017. Drawing parallels between the drought situation in India in 1965, he said two crop seasons were affected then and now and inflation shot up and the weather conditions were similar to this year. The minister said, government took a number of steps to contain its impact, including subsidy on diesel and seeds. <br/><br/>Attacking the UPA government for bringing amendments to the Crop Insurance Scheme, Mr Singh alleged that the scheme was amended to benefit corporates and not the farmers. Presently, the scheme covers 70 crops. The Agriculture Minister said, the government has set a target of providing Soil Health Cards to all 13.5 crore farmers across the country by 2017. Mr Singh also informed the House that Soil Health Management in the country is being promoted through setting up of soil and fertilizer testing laboratories.