Lok Sabha Question No. 1881 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Monitoring of Drought
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE, J.C. DIVAKAR REDDY

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1881

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 14 TH  MARCH, 2017

## MONITORING OF DROUGHT

1881.  SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE: SHRI J.C. DIVAKAR REDDY:

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

- (a) whether the Government has recently formulated any inter-ministerial scheme to tackle the drought in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken by the Union Government in cooperation with States during the last two years to tackle recurrent problem of drought in the country;
- (c) whether the Government has been working in coordination with other ministries such as Rural Development to fight drought, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has put state-of-art infrastructure in place including monitoring through satellite systems for synoptic and wide-area coverage of the monitoring drought; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the other steps taken by the Government for monitoring of drought/mitigation the effect of drought in the country?

## ANSWER

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

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी (SHRI S.S. AHLUWALIA)

(a) to (c): The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DAC & FW) has established Crisis Management Group on drought comprising of members of Line Ministries/ Departments of  the Central Government  headed by the Central Drought Relief Commissioner  to review the drought situation.

State Governments are primarily responsible for taking necessary relief in the wake of natural  calamities  and  are  empowered  to  initiate  immediate  relief  measures  to  address  the situation arising  out  of  drought.  Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of  state Governments  with  financial  assistance.  For  undertaking  relief  measures,  funds  are  available with  the  State  Government  in  the  form  of  State  Disaster  Response  Fund  (SDRF).  Additional financial  assistance,  over  and  above  SDRF,  is  considered  from  National  Disaster  Response Fund  (NDRF)  for  natural  calamities  of  severe  nature  and  is  approved  on  the  basis  of Memorandum  received  from  State  Government  in  accordance  with  established  procedure, keeping in view items and norms in vogue for assistance.

Ministry  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers Welfare  through  ICAR-Central  Research  Institute  for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad has prepared detailed crop Contingency Plans for 619 districts. States have been advised for preparing, updating, and fine-tuning Contingency Plans for each district in consultation with CRIDA-ICAR and the State Agriculture Universities and to prepare location specific remedial measures based on these contingency plans in the event of late arrival of Monsoon, long dry spells, scanty rainfall, drought conditions, tying up availability of seeds and other inputs for implementing the Contingency Plans.

Availability  of  Seeds  etc.  is  being  monitored  and  reviewed  on  a  regular  basis  in  the weekly Crop Weather Watch Group (CWWG) meeting being held in the Department. Weekly video  conference  with  States  is  also  being  held  to  get  first-hand  information  about  States' preparedness and to advise States appropriately whenever needed.

To  mitigate  the  adverse  impact  of  drought,  State  Governments  are  advised  to  initiate adverse remedial action e.g.  constructing water harvesting structures under MGNREGA  and other  such  schemes,  promoting  agronomic  practices  for  moisture  conservation,  promoting cultivation    of  less  water  consuming  crops  and  restoring  irrigation  infrastructure  by  desilting canals, energizing tube-wells, replacing/repairing faulty pumps, to carry out periodic assessment of preparation for kharif crops, particularly contingency crops and also investment made  in  water  conservation  structure  under  various  schemes  like  Integrated  Watershed Management Programme (IWWP) to verify their utility in harvesting the rainfall

States  have      been  advised  to  keep  aside  about  5  to  10%  of  fund  allocated  under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for undertaking appropriate interventions, if the situation so warrants, to minimize the advance impact of an aberrant monsoon on the agriculture sector. The  Central  Government  implements  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  (CSS)  /  Central  Sector (CS)  Schemes  such  as  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana  (PMKSY),  the  Rainfed  Area Development  Programme  (RAD),  National  Rural  Drinking  Water  Programme  (NRDWP),  etc. which  contribute  towards  drought  proofing  .  Twenty  five  percent  of  total  outlay  for  all  CSS Schemes (except  for  schemes,  which  emanate  from  a  legislation,  e.g.,(MGNREGA),  can  be used as flexi funds to enable mitigation/ restoration activities in cases of natural calamities.

Kisan Call Centres (KCC) has been launched with the basic aim to provide information to farming community through toll  free number on all seven days a week.

m Kisan Portal subsumes  all mobile based initiatives in the field of agriculture and allied sector. Officers, Scientists and  Experts  from all organisations  and  Department  of  the Government of India and State Governments {including State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Agro- Meteorological Field  Units (AMFUs) }  are using this Portal    for  disseminating    information  (  giving  topical  &  seasonal  advisories  and  providing services through SMSs to farmers in their local languages) on various agricultural activities to registered farmers.

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR)   is currently implementing 8214 watershed development projects in 28 States (except Goa) covering an area of about 39.07 million hectare under the Watershed Development Component (WDC) of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana  (PMKSY)  principally  for  development  of  rainfed  portions  of  net  cultivated  area  and culturable wastelands which includes drought prone areas of the country. The activities being undertaken inter alia  include  ridge  area  treatment,  drainage  line  treatment,  soil  and  moisture conservation, rain water harvesting' nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihoods for asset less persons  etc.

(d) & (e): National  Agricultural  Drought  Assessment  and  Monitoring  System  (NADAMS) project, developed by National Remote Sensing Centre, provides near real-time information on

prevalence,  severity  level  and  persistence  of  agricultural  drought  at  state/  district/sub-district level.    NADAMS  project  is  being  handled  by  Mahalanobis  National  Crop  Forecast  Centre (MNCFC), Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare. Currently, it covers 14 states  of  India,  which  are  predominantly  agriculture  based  and  prone  to  drought  situation (Andhra  Pradesh,  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Gujarat,  Haryana,  Jharkhand,  Karnataka,  Madhya Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Odisha,  Rajasthan,  Tamil  Nadu,  Telangana  and  Uttar  Pradesh). MNCFC is  providing  fortnightly and monthly drought assessment reports (June to October)   to concerned states and national level government agencies.

The Control Room of the DAC & FW collects information on rainfall, reservoir position & sowing status etc. to monitor drought situation and liaises with the Central Ministries/Department and the States.  In case of severe drought situation in the country, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary also reviews the situation and takes necessary decisions to mitigate the drought situation.

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