Lok Sabha Question No. 5127 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-27
Subject: Living Standard of 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. 5127

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 27 TH  MARCH, 2018

## LIVING STANDARD OF FARMERS

5127.   SHRI K. PARASURAMAN:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  road  map  or  fresh  initiatives  to  remove  various difficulties faced by farmers and raise their standard of living as the highest priority; and
- (b) 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): To promote the agriculture sector the Government has announced a number of initiatives  in  the  Union  Budget  2018-19  for  the  welfare  of  the  farmers.  The  details  of  the initiatives are Annexed. The Department is also implementing various schemes to promote the agriculture  sector  viz.  Soil  Health  Card  (SHC)  scheme,  Neem  Coated  Urea,  Paramparagat Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY),  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana  (PMKSY),  National Agriculture  Market  Scheme  (e-NAM),  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY),  Interest Subvention Scheme etc.

Further, the Government is targeting to double the income of the farmers by the year 2022.  To achieve this, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare has constituted an  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  to  examine  various  dimensions  of  farmers'  income  and  to recommend an appropriate strategy.  In the meanwhile, the Government is aiming to reorient the  agriculture  sector  by  focusing  on  an  income-centeredness  in  addition  to  pure  production centeredness approach.

## Annexure

## Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5127 due for 27.03.2018 Statement in respect  of Part (a) of the Question  regarding 'Living Standard of Farmers'

|   S.N. | Budget Announcement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | MSP for all unannounced Kharif Crops to be 1.5 time to the cost of production                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|      2 | NITI Aayog, in consultation with Central and State Governments, will put in place a fool- proof mechanism so that farmers get adequate price for their produce.                                                                                                                                                                        |
|      3 | Government will create an institutional mechanism, with participation of all concerned Ministries, to develop appropriate policies and practices for price and demand forecast, use of futures and options market, expansion of warehouse depository system and to take decisions about specific exports and imports related measures. |
|      4 | Government will develop and upgrade existing 22000 Rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|      5 | Creation of Agri Market Infrastructure fund with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|      6 | Our districts can specialize in some or other agricultural produce and be known for it. There is a need to develop cluster based model in a scientific manner for identified agriculture produces                                                                                                                                      |
|      7 | Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare will reorient its ongoing Schemes and promote cluster based development of agri-commodities and regions in partnership with the Ministries of Food Processing, Commerce and other allied Ministries.                                                                                        |
|      8 | Organic farming by Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Village Producers' Organizations (VPOs) in large clusters, preferably of 1000 hectares each, will be encouraged                                                                                                                                                            |
|      9 | Our ecology supports cultivation of highly specialized medicinal and aromatic plants. Our Government shall support organized cultivation and associated industry. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs. 200 crore for this purpose.                                                                                                       |
|     10 | ''Operation Greens'' shall promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs. 500 crore for this purpose. (To facilitate connectivity between farmers and consumers to ensure availability of tomato, onion and potato).             |
|     11 | We removed bamboo grown outside forest areas from the definition of trees. Now, I propose to launch a Re-structured National Bamboo Mission with an outlay of Rs.1290 crore to promote bamboo sector in a holistic manner.                                                                                                             |
|     12 | Government of India will take necessary measures and encourage State Governments to put in place a mechanism that their (farmers') surplus solar power is purchased by the distribution companies or licencees at reasonably remunerative rates.                                                                                       |
|     13 | Institutional credit for agriculture propose to raise this to Rs. 11 lakh crore for the year 2018- 19.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|     14 | NITI Aayog, in consultation with State Governments, will evolve a suitable mechanism to enable access of lessee cultivators to credit without compromising the rights of the land owners.                                                                                                                                              |
|     15 | Government will extend a favourable taxation treatment to Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) for helping farmers aggregate their needs of inputs, farm services, processing and sale operations.                                                                                                                                    |
|     16 | A special Scheme will be implemented to support the efforts of the governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue.                                                                                             |

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