Lok Sabha Question No. 762 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-07
Subject: Facilities to Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: PARASURAMAN K.

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

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 762

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 7 TH  FEBRUARY, 2017

## FACILITIES TO FARMERS

## 762.   SHRI K. PARASURAMAN:

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

- (a) whether it is fact  that the most of the facilities  offered by the Government schemes in agricultural sector are availed by agro-traders, agro-processors etc. whereas the grassroot level farmers are hardly getting any benefits therefrom, if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (b) whether the Government is planning to educate farmers to avail the maximum benefit from the Government bodies, if so, the details 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) & (b): (i) This  Ministry  is  implementing  various  crop  development  schemes  for increasing production and productivity of the crops in the country viz. National Food Security Mission(NFSM) on rice, wheat, pulses, coarse cereals and Commercial Crops (cotton, jute & sugarcane);    Bringing  Green  Revolution  to  Eastern  India  (BGREI)  and  Crop  Diversification Programme(CDP).  Under  these  schemes,  scientific  crop  production    technologies  are  being promoted  at  the  farmers'  field  through  organization  of  cluster  demonstrations  and  training  of farmers with latest crop production technologies such as timely sowing, seed rate, recommended package of practices etc.  for reduction  in the cost of cultivation.  At least 30% of the  cluster  demonstrations  under  NFSM  and  BGREI  are  being  conducted  by      adopting cropping system approach to utilize  the  rice    fallow  area  for  pluses  cultivation.  Assistance  is given  to  farmers  on  distribution  of  improved  seeds/hybrids,  farm  implements/machines, irrigation  devices,  plant  protection  chemicals,  bio  pesticides  for  promoting  Integrated  Pest Management  and  soil  ameliorants  etc.  through  State  Government.      New  initiatives  like distribution of seed minikits of newer varieties of pulses free of cost, production of quality seed (breeder, foundation and certified seed), creation of seed hubs at SAU and KVKs, strengthening of  bio-fertilizers  and  bio  agent  labs  at  SAUs/ICAR  Institute,  technological  demonstration  by KVKs  and  enhancing  up  breeder  seed  production  have  been  included  under  NFSM  during 2016-17 for enhancing pulses production and productivity. The Commercial Crops (cotton/jute/sugarcane) primarily focus on cropping system approach for transfer of technology in  the  approved  States.  Besides,  Crops  Diversification  Programme  is  being  implemented  in original green revolution states viz. Punjab, Haryana and in Western UP to diversify paddy area

towards  less  water  requiring  crops    like    oilseeds,    pulses,  coarse  cereal,  agro-forestry  and shifting of tobacco farmers to alternative crops/cropping system in tobacco growing States viz. Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Gujarat,  Karnataka,  Maharashtra,  Odisha,  Tamil  Nadu,  Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Under  NFSM  and  BGREI  there  is    provision  of  'Cropping  system  based  Training'  of farmers which includes four sessions i.e. one before kharif and rabi season, one each during kharif  and  rabi  season.  Under  this  programme,  training  of  trainers/farmers  is  imparted  by Crop/Subject  matter  specialist  of  ICAR  Institute/SAUs  /KVKs  and  involves  various  crop management practices (agronomic and plant protection practices) including primary processing of produce, storage etc. and  also to create  awareness  about  the  new  high yielding varieties/hybrids  and  new  practices.  A  group  of  30  participants/farmers  in  each  session  and participants in all four sessions remain same. Central assistant of Rs. 14000/-per training (Rs. 3500/-per session) is made available.

ii)      The  Per  Drop  More  Crop  component  of  PMKSY  is  implemented  with  the  objective  of enhancing Water Use Efficiency. The scheme is farmer centric and assistance is provided to the  farmers  for  adopting  precision  irrigation  technologies  and  On  farm  water  management practices.

The scheme has been approved with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 Crore for a period of 5 years (2015-16 to 2019-20). During 2015-16, Rs. 7298.7 Crore were released under the above components of NMSA through all concerned implementing Ministries/ Departments.

iii) The Government is implementing 'Strengthening and Modernization of Pest Management    Approach  in  India'  through  35  Central  Integrated  Pest  Management  Centres (CIPMCs)  of  directorate  of  Plant  Protection  Quarantine  and  Storage  established  across  the country  with  an  aim  to  promote  Integrated  Pest  Management  (IPM)  approach.  CIPMCs  inter alia,  produce  biological  agents  for  release  in  the  fields,  conserve  natural  bio-control  agents, promote bio-pesticides as an alternative to chemical pesticides and advocate judicious and safe use of chemical pesticides as a last resort. These activities are implemented through Farmers Field  Schools  (FFSs),  2  days  and  5  days  training  programmes  and  season  long  training program for State Agriculture Extension officers.

iv) National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) programme is under implementation  since  2014-15.  The  various  interventions  of  this  Mission  are  implemented through  the  State  Government.  Under  this  programme  the  Transfer  of  Technology  (TOT) component, the assistance is provided to states for conducting Farmers Training and Trainers Training  programme,  in  which  training  is  provided  to  the  farmers  and  extension  workers educating the farmers to avail the benefits of  the NMOOP programme. An assistance of Rs. 24,000/- per training of 3 days for farmers and Rs. 36,000/- per training of 2 days for extension workers are available under NMOOP.

v) The  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  envisages  production and productivity improvement of horticulture crops like fruits (including Apple) and vegetables through various interventions. Activities such as production of planting material, vegetable seed production, coverage of area with improved cultivars, rejuvenation of senile orchards, protected cultivation,  creation  of  water  resources,  adoption  of  Integrated  Pest  Management  (IPM), Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), organic farming, including insitu generation of organic inputs are taken up for development of fruits and vegetables. Capacity buildings of farmers and technicians  are  also  provided  for  adopting  improved  technologies.  Scheme  also  envisages creation  of  infrastructure  for  post  harvest  management  (PHM)  and  marketing  for  better  price realization of produce.

Under  NHM/HMNEH of MIDH, subsidy is provided  to  the  farm  size  limited  to  4  ha  in majority of the intervention. Also small and marginal farmers are mobilized to form FPO/FIG for aggregation and economies of scale. FPOs are eligible for financial assistance under MIDH.

Under  MIDH,  in  certain  components  like  cultivation  of  flowers  in  open  field  and horticulture mechanization there is a provision to provide higher rate of assistance for small and marginal farmers for upliftment of small and marginal farmers.

vi) The  Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  improve  marketing  facilities  for  farmers, which includes development of alternative marketing channels with private sector partnership through  advocacy  of  reforms.  Further,  to  enhance  transparency  in  the  transactions,  price discovery  and  farmers'  reach  to  large  number  of  markets  and  buyers,  the  Government  has launched  a  scheme  called  National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM)  on  14.04.2016.  The  scheme aims  to  create  a  unified  agri-marketing  portal  for  online  trading  of  agri-produce.  With  online bidding, transparency and competition in APMC transactions is bound to increase. This scheme is farmer focussed and would help fetch better prices to the farmers for their produce. Capacity building and awareness campaigning for all stakeholders is done regularly.

So far, 250 markets from 10 States have been integrated with e-NAM.

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