Lok Sabha Question No. 3342 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-06
Subject: Farm Equipment
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, DHARAMBIR BHALERAM, DEVJI MANSINGRAM PATEL, RAJESHBHAI NARANBHAI CHUDASAMA, YERRAM VENKATA SUBBAREDDY, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3342

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH   DECEMBER, 2016

## FARM EQUIPMENT

3342.      SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

SHRI PARBHUBHAI NAGARBHAI VASAVA:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI DHARAMBIR:

SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

SHRI Y.V. SUBBA REDDY:

SHRI  MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

## Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether farm equipment for use in the different sizes of land holdings are available in the country and if so, the details and utilisation status thereof and the steps taken by the Government to promote collective farming in the country including Rajasthan;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to set up custom hiring centres to rent expensive farm equipment to the farmers and if so, the details thereof along with the involvement of private sector in this regard;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  launched  'Mera  Gaon  Mera  Gaurav'  scheme  to  encourage agriculture scientists  to  adopt villages  and give suitable advice to the farmers about their farms and if so, the details thereof along with the villages covered thereunder in the country including Rajasthan;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  have  better  coordination  between  agricultural technologies  and  sustainable  development and  improvement  in  crop  yield  and  if  so,  the  details thereof and the steps taken in this regard; and
- (e) whether major concerns of pesticide usage in agri-ecosystem were raised in the recently held international biodiversity conference and if so, the details and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी (SHRI  PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- ( a): The improved farm equipment for use in different sizes of land holdings are available in the country which suit to different power sources and unit operations such as Land Development , Tillage,    Sowing,  Planting,  Reaping,  Digging,  Inter  Cultivation,  Residue  management,  Forage, Harvesting,  Threshing    and  Plant  Protection  equipments  are  available  in  the  country.      The utilization of these equipments during 2012-13 to 2014-15 is enclosed as an Annexure I.

Department  Of  Agriculture,  Cooperation  &  Farmers Welfare  is  not  promoting  collective farming in the country.

- (b): The  Custom  Hiring  Centers  (CHC)  are  promoted  through  Sub  Mission  of  Agricultural Mechanization  (SMAM)  and  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojna  (RKVY).  The  financial  assistance  for setting  up  of  CHC  is  provided  to  rural  entrepreneurs,  progressive  farmer  and  Self  Help  Groups (SHG) in above schemes @ 40% of the project cost limited to a project cost upto Rs.2.50 crore.

State  wise  establishment of  CHC through above schemes during 2014-15 to 2016-17 is enclosed as an Annexure II.

- (c): The  Government  has  launched  'Mera  Gaon  Mera  Gaurav'  Scheme  in  August  2015  to encourage  agriculture  scientists  to  adopt  villages  and  give  suitable  advice  to  the  farmers  on technical and other related aspects in a time frame through personal visits or on telephone. Under this scheme, a group of four scientists have adopted 5 villages. Scientists also create awareness among  farmers  about  climate  change,  other  customized  technologies,  protective  measures, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and other issues of local and national importance. In this process of social transformation,  scientists  involve  local  Panchayats,  development  agencies,  NGOs  and  private organisations. In this initiative, 20,000 scientists of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) are working.

The State wise villages covered in the scheme 'Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav' during 2015-16 in the country including Rajasthan is enclosed as an Annexure III.

- (d): Government  has  introduced various farm technologies to sustain  development  of agriculture and improvement in crop yield under various Missions/ Schemes, such as integrated farming system/ cropping system with appropriate resource conservation technologies; development of high yielding  pest/  disease  tolerant  crop  varieties/  hybrids;  water  use  efficiency enhancement through  micro  irrigation;  soil  test  based  balanced  and  judicious  use  of  fertilizers; dissemination  of  agriculture  related  information  to  the  farming  community  through  various  ICT enabled delivery channels including SMSs, internet kiosks, farmers portals etc; scientific storage of both  perishable  and  non-perishable  produce;  precision  farming;  increasing  the  reach  of  farm mechanization by promoting 'Custom Hiring Centres', creating hubs for hi-tech & high value farm equipments; promotion of latest technologies on crops specific cultivation; protected cultivation of horticultural products, organic farming etc.
- (e): The  1 st International  Agrobiodiversity  Congress  conference  was  held  in  New  Delhi  from 6 th to 9 th November, 2016 and was attended by 900 participants from 60 countries. The concerns of  pesticides  usage  in  agri-ecosystem  were  raised  and  discussed  in  the  conference  is  as  per below:

(i) The impact of the neonicotinoid insecticides on pollinators not restricted to honeybee and measures to overcome were suggested.

(ii) Birds  play  an  important  role  in  pest  management  and  the  impact  of  pesticides  on  insect feeding birds and measures to be adopted.

(iii) The role of insecticides on natural enemies of insect pests and others in the ecosystem.

(iv) Soil  health  as  we  see  is  not  soil  nutrition  but  interplay  of  soil  insects,  arthropods  and microbes.  It  was  highlighted  that  pesticides  can  have  serious  detrimental  impact  on  soul  fauna impacting soil health because of pesticides.

- (v) It  was  highlighted  that  agrobiodiversity  is  better  served  through  pheromones,  natural enemies,  biopesticides  and  host  plant  resistance  and  pesticides  is  not  and  should  not  be  the automatic choice.

As  regards  to  the  outcome  of  the  conference  is  concerned  ,  based  on  the  detailed deliberations, the delegates unanimously adopted preamble and the declarations as enclosed in Annexure IV.

## Utilization (availability) of farm equipments during 2012-13 to 2014-15 (No. in lakhs)

| Year    |   Tractors |   Power Tillers |   Combine Harvesters |   Ploughs |   Cultivators |   Harrows |   Seed drills |   Sprayers & Dusters |   Threshes |   Planters |   Levellers |   Puddler |   Cane Crushers |
|---------|------------|-----------------|----------------------|-----------|---------------|-----------|---------------|----------------------|------------|------------|-------------|-----------|-----------------|
| 2012-13 |       5.9  |            0.47 |                 0.25 |    715.41 |         11.48 |     12.25 |        132.84 |                29.63 |      75.29 |       0.9  |       23.07 |    113.31 |            9.51 |
| 2013-14 |       6.97 |            0.56 |                 0.3  |    722.97 |         11.7  |     12.6  |        135.4  |                30.1  |      77.75 |       0.92 |       23.43 |    116.4  |            9.61 |
| 2014-15 |       5.54 |            0.51 |                 0.35 |    730.53 |         11.92 |     12.94 |        137.93 |                30.94 |      80.22 |       0.94 |       23.75 |    119.49 |            9.71 |

## Source : Agricultural Machinery Manufacturer's Association

## Annexure I

## State wise Custom Hiring Centers Established Under Various Schemes  Of DAC&FW During 2014-15 ,2015-16 & 2016-17

Annexure II

|                   | 2014-15   | 2014-15   | 2014-15   | 2014-15   | 2015-16   | 2015-16   | 2015-16   | 2016-17   | 2016-17   | TOTAL   | TOTAL   | GRAND   |
|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|---------|---------|
|                   | SMAM      | RKVY      | TOTAL     | SMAM      | RKVY      | TOTAL     | SMAM      | RKVY      | TOTAL     | SMAM    | RKVY    | TOTAL   |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 0         | 326       | 326       | 0         | 850       | 850       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 1176    | 1176    |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Assam             | 61        | 0         | 61        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 61      | 0       | 61      |
| Bihar             | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Chhattisgarh      | 22        | 0         | 22        | 3         | 0         | 3         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 25      | 0       | 25      |
| Gujarat           |           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Haryana           | 2         | 0         | 2         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 2       | 0       | 2       |
| Himachal Pradesh` | 3         | 0         | 3         | 1         | 0         | 1         | 2         | 0         | 2         | 6       | 0       | 6       |
| Jammu &Kashmir    | 0         | 3         | 3         | 0         | 3         | 3         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 6       | 6       |
| Jharkhand         | 49        |           | 49        | 38        | 107       | 145       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 87      | 107     | 194     |
| Karnataka         |           | 94        | 94        | 0         |           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 94      | 94      |
| Kerala            | 0         | 0         | 0         | 34        | 0         | 34        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 34      | 0       | 34      |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 0         | 189       | 189       | 63        | 132       | 195       | 0         | 130       | 130       | 63      | 451     | 514     |
| Maharashtra       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Manipur           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Meghalaya         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Mizoram           | 4         | 36        | 40        | 9         | 0         | 9         | 9         | 2         | 11        | 22      | 38      | 60      |
| Nagaland          | 6         | 1         | 7         | 1         | 0         | 1         | 5         | 0         | 5         | 12      | 1       | 13      |
| Orissa            | 10        | 0         | 10        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 250       | 0         | 250       | 260     | 0       | 260     |
| Punjab            | 0         | 105       | 105       | 0         | 110       | 110       | 34        | 92        | 126       | 34      | 307     | 341     |
| Rajasthan         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 14        | 0         | 14        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 14      | 0       | 14      |
| Sikkim            | 1         | 0         | 1         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 1       | 0       | 1       |
| Tamil Nadu        | 22        | 0         | 22        | 142       | 48        | 190       | 67        | 63        | 130       | 231     | 111     | 342     |
| Telengana         | 0         | 378       | 378       | 0         | 500       | 500       | 0         | 1198      | 1198      | 0       | 2076    | 2076    |
| Tripura           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 189       | 0         | 189       | 264       | 0         | 264       | 27        | 0         | 27        | 480     | 0       | 480     |
| Uttarakhand       | 11        | 0         | 11        | 23        | 0         | 23        | 10        | 0         | 10        | 44      | 0       | 44      |
| West Bengal       | 57        | 97        | 154       | 93        | 118       | 211       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 150     | 215     | 365     |
| TOTAL             | 437       | 1229      | 1666      | 685       | 1868      | 2553      | 404       | 1485      | 1889      | 1526    | 4582    | 6108    |

Number of villages covered under Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav scheme  in 2015-16

| State             |   No. of Villages |
|-------------------|-------------------|
| Punjab            |                58 |
| Haryana           |              1063 |
| Delhi             |                 6 |
| Himachal Pradesh  |                61 |
| Jammu &Kashmir    |               189 |
| Uttar Pradesh     |               436 |
| Uttrakhand        |                50 |
| Andamann& Nicobar |                56 |
| Bihar             |                43 |
| Jharkhand         |                24 |
| West Bengal       |               234 |
| Telanagana        |               186 |
| Andhra Pradesh    |                48 |
| Maharastra        |               139 |
| Rajasthan         |               495 |
| Gujarat           |               583 |
| Karnataka         |               217 |
| Tamil Nadu        |               114 |
| Kerala            |               348 |
| Goa               |                 4 |
| NE region         |               254 |
| Total             |              4608 |

Source: ICAR

Based on the deliberations during the 1 st International Agrobiodiversity Congress held in New  Delhi  from  6 th to  9 th November,  2016  ,  the  delegates  unanimously  adopted  the Preamble and following declaration at the concluding session on November 9, 2016.

## Preamble

- (i) Agrobiodiversity  includes  crop  varieties,  livestock  and  fish  breeds,  and  agriculturally useful  insect  and  microbial  species.    Significant  progress  has  been  made  towards  the documentation,  collection,  conservation  and  use  of  Agrobiodiversity  related  genetic resources,  yet  much  more  needs  to  be  done  towards  their  sustainable  use,  greater exchange and knowledge and technology transfer .
- (ii) If conserved and used sustainably, Agrobiodiversity could make an important contribution towards resolving problems of hunger, food insecurity, malnutrition and climate change, thus help in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Aichi Targets of Convention on Biological Diversity.
- (iii) Limitations  in  policies,  investment,  infrastructure,  technical  capacity  as  well  as  crosssectoral coordination and partnerships have often prevented efficient use of agrobiodiversity.  This is particularly alarming since it is projected that the world, where almost 795 million people go hungry today, will need 70% more food to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050 (FAO, 2015).  Hence, high priority and policy support by world leaders and organizations is warranted for enhanced use of agrobiodiversity .
- (iv) The  world  is  also  facing  rapid  loss  and  extinction  of  biodiversity.    It  is  estimated  that species are being lost at 1000 to 10000 times the rate at which natural extinction took place  at  any  time  during  the  past  66  million  years  mainly  due  to  explosive  population growth  and  overexploitation  of  natural  resources.    Extinction  of  agrobiodiversity  and associated  traditional  knowledge  is  an  irreversible  process  and  hence  must  receive priority attention.  In fact, loss of gene is a major loss for our future generations .

## Declaration

1.   We call upon nations to accord top priority to the agrobiodiversity conservation and their sustainable  use  towards  achieving  the    Sustainable  Development  Goals  and  the  Aichi Targets  of  Convention  on  Biological  Diversity  addressing    poverty  alleviation,  food, nutritional and health  security,  gender equity and global partnership.
2.      We recognize the importance of traditional agrobiodiversity knowledge available with farm men and women, pastoralists, tribal and rural communities and its  central role in its conservation and use for a food secure  and climate resilient world. We, therefore, call upon  countries  to  develop  the  necessary  legal,  institutional  funding  mechanism  to catalyze  their active participation.
3.      We urge researchers and policy-makers to initiate, strengthen, and promote complementary  strategies  to  conserve  agrobiodiversity  through  use,    including  greater emphasis on using crop wild relatives. We call for them to continuum between ex situ, in situ, on-farm, community-based and other  conservation methods with much greater and equal emphasis on each.
4.      We  propose    researchers  employ  modern  technologies  including,  but  not  limited  to, genomic,  biotechnology,  space,  computational,  and  nano-technologies  for    genetic resources characterization, evaluation and trait discovery.  The aim must  be to achieve efficiency, equality, economy and environmental security through diversified  agricultural production systems and landscapes.
5.      We reemphasize the necessity of global exchange of plant, animal, aquatic microbial and insect genetic resources  to diversity  agriculture as well as our food basket and to meet the ever-growing food and nutritional needs of each country.  To ensure this nations need to  be catalysed to adopt both  multiple-lateral (as envisaged in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture) and   bilateral

(as per the Nagoya Protocol) instruments to facilitate the exchange of genetic resources, while ensuring equitable access and benefit sharing opportunities.

6. Countries are also expected to harmonize their existing biosecurity systems, including phytosanitary  and  quarantine,  and  enhance  their  capacities  to  facilitate  safe  transboundary movement of germplasm.
7.      We also expect that  the governments and civil societies lay much  greater emphasis on public awareness and capacity enhancement programs on agrobiodiversity conservation in order to accelerate its effective and efficient  use.
8.   We recommend the development  and implementation of  an agrobiodiversity index to help  monitor  on-going  genetic  resources  conservation  and  management  efforts,  with particular emphasis on agrobiodiversity hot spots.
9.   It  is  also  urged that  public and private sectors and civil societies  henceforth  actively invest  in  and  incentivize  the  utilization  of  agrobiodiversity  to  mitigate  malnutrition, increase the resilience and productivity of farms and farming households  and enhance ecosystem service.  Such efforts should lead to equitable benefits and opportunities with particular emphasis on women and youth.
10. We urge countries to repriortize their research and extension with increased investments to support the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity.  Further we strongly recommend to create an International Agrobiodiversity Fund as a mechanism to assist countries and communities  in  scientific  in  situ  and  ex  situ  conservation  and  enhanced  use  of Agrobiodiversity.
11.  We urge the United Nations  to consider declaring a 'Year of Agrobiodiversity' in order to draw worldwide attention and and  catalyze urgent actions for effective management of genetic resources by the global community.
12.  Finally, We recommend that the International Agrobiodiversity  Congress be held each four    years  with  Bioversity  International  playing  the  facilitator's  role,  to    maintain    the momentum gained in 2016 and continue emphasizing  the need to implement the  Delhi Declaration on Agrobiodiversity Management and monitor the progress so made by the different stakeholders and countries.

Source: ICAR

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