Lok Sabha Question No. 5250 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-27
Subject: Latest Farm Technology
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: R.K. BHARATHI MOHAN, PR. SENTHILNATHAN, V. SATHYABAMA, RAMSINH PATALYABHAI RATHWA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5250 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27/03/2018

## LATEST FARM TECHNOLOGY

5250.  SHRI BHARATHI MOHAN R.K.: SHRI PR. SENTHIL NATHAN: SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA: SHRI RAMSINH RATHWA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of modern/latest farm technologies made available to farmers to assist them in the cultivation of crops in the country;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  identified  the  areas  using  obsolete  technology  in agriculture in the country and if so, the steps taken by the Government to introduce/make available the latest technological tools/methods to reach those areas/farmers community especially small and micro farmers;
- (c) whether the Government provides subsidy/cash subsidy and adequate support to farmers for purchasing different farm machineries, seeds, fertilizers and electricity etc.;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  during each of the last three  years and the current year, State-wise and component-wise; and
- (e) the details of research and development work undertaken for development of agromachineries to overcome the shortage of farm labourers in agriculture sector?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f'k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h

## (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a) The  details  of  modern/  latest  farm  technologies  that  are  available  to  farmers  to assist them in the cultivation of crops are given in Annexure-I .

(b) Yes, harvesting, transport, storage etc. operations are being carried out mostly by traditional  methods.  Research  projects  on  harvesting  equipment,  modern  transport  and storage  technologies  are  being  taken  and  demonstrated  to  small  and  marginal  farmers. Some of them are listed in Annexure-II .

(c) & (d): Yes,  Madam.  Government  is  providing  adequate  support  to  farmers  for purchase of farm machinery, seeds, fertilizers and electricity.

The  year  wise  and  state  wise  release  of  the  subsidy  during  last  three  years  and current year for promotion of agricultural mechanization under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is given in Annexure-III .  The  release  of fund  to different states for village seed programme is given in Annexure-IV .

Department  of  fertilizers  provide  subsidy  to  the  manufacturers/importers  of fertilizers for providing fertilizers to the farmers at subsidized rates and not to the state governments. The details of the subsidy during last three years and current year is given in Annexure-V .

The electricity is a concurrent subject. Supply and distribution of electricity at an affordable rate to all the consumers including farmers in a States falls within the purview of  the  respective  State  Government.  There  is  no  provision  to  give  free  power  to  the farmers by the Union Government (details in Annexure-VI ).

(e) Some of the machines developed to overcome the shortage of farm labourers in agriculture sector are listed below:

1. SRI Power weeder
2. Tractor operated turmeric planter
3. Tractor operated turmeric digger
4. Raisedbed planter
5. Axial flow rice thresher
6. Rice straw chopper cum spreader
7. Tractor operated fodder harvester cum chopper with loading arrangement
8. Pulverizing roller
9. Three row rotary weeder
10. Aeroblast sprayer
11. Plastic mulch laying machine
12. Tractor operated vegetable transplanter
13. Power operated sunflower thresher
14. Zero-till seed cum fertilizer drill
15. Jyoti-multi-crop planter
16. Vertical conveyor reapers
17. Sugarcane setts cutter planter
18. Power operated maize dehusker cum sheller
19. Tractor operated garlic planter
20. Tractor operated garlic harvester
21. Cleaning/ grading/ washing of food grains, fruits and vegetables
22. Decortication of maize/ groundnut
23. Animal drawn bakkhar
24. Tendua iron plough
25. OUAT MB plough

26. Biasi plough (Tifal)
27. Pant Hill Plough
28. Pant Damala
29. Pant Datala
30. Three Tyne ferti- hoe
31. Paddy puddler
32. Wedge plough
33. Wing plough
34. Rolling peg puddler
35. Three row seed drill
36.  Integrated Small Scale Lac Processing Unit
37.  Power Ribboner machine for jute and mesta
38.  Raw jute grading system
39.  Improved jute retting technology
40.  Measuring instrument of jute fibre properties
41.   Small Scale Lac Processing Unit
42.   Modern fabric preparation systems
43.    High  value  added  textile/non-textile  products  from  fibre-based  agro-residues  and their marketing
44.  Pre-cleaner to remove trash from seed cotton
45.  On-Board Pre-cleaner for Mechanically harvested Cotton
46. Briquettes and Pellets making machines from cotton stalk

*******

## Details of modern/ latest farm technologies that are available to farmers to assist them in the cultivation of crops

Rotary  assisted  broad  bed  former-cum-seeder: A  raised  bed  former-cum-seeder  has  been developed for seeding of soybean and wheat crops on raised beds. Provision has been made for attachment  of  rotavator  for  formation  of  fresh  bed  or  sowing  with  reshaping  of  bed  with  bed shaper only. This machine makes the bed on top with width and height of 1200 and 200 mm, respectively. The field capacity of this machine for making fresh bed and sowing is 0.35 ha/h and for reshaping of bed and sowing is 0.56 ha/h.  The farmers can get a benefit of about Rs. 15,000/ha. The technology has been licensed to M/S TAFE Ltd., Chennai in year 2014.

Self-  propelled  hydraulic  multipurpose  vehicle  for  orchard  management: A hydraulically powered  self-propelled  multipurpose  orchard  management  system  has  been  developed  for harvesting fruits, pruning and spraying operation in mango, sapota, citrus, etc. It employs a full hydraulic  drive  system  with  360  steering,  which  effectively  solves  the  steering  problem typically  encountered  in  the  narrow  spaces  in  orchard  field.  The  prototype  is  built  that  can navigate smoothly through an undulated terrain. It is stable on slopes less than 8  and has good climbing ability. Lifting, lowering of the platform; forward, backward movement and steering of the machine are controlled by the operator from the platform. Attachments for cutting, pruning, spraying etc. operated by the machine hydraulic system itself are also developed. The equipment has  been  licensed  to  two  manufacturers  M/S  Fine  Fabrication,  Bhopal  and  M/S  TAFE  Ltd., Chennai.

Millet  Mill: CIAE Millet  mill  has  been  developed  for  dehusking  minor  millets  viz.,  foxtail millet, little millet, kodo millet, proso millet and barnyard millet. This machine has a capacity of dehusking 100 kg/h (at 95% efficiency) and operates with 1 hp single phase electric motor. The technology  has  been  licensed  to  M/S  Perfura  Technologies  (India)  Pvt.  Lt.,  Coimbatore;  M/s. AVM Engineering Industries, Salem and M/s. Valampuri Industries, Coimbatore and about 100 units has been manufactured and installed by these manufacturers.

Low pressure sugarcane sett/bud treatment unit: (Developed in collaboration  with  ICAR  Sugarcane  Breeding  Institute,  Coimbatore,  Tamil  Nadu  ):  A  low  pressure  plant  protection chemical  treatment  has  been  developed  to  address  the  problem  of  red  rot  and  smut  disease management in the sugarcane setts/ buds before planting. The equipment under reduced pressure of about 400 mm Hg would reduce the quantity of chemical being treated per ha. The scaled up model  can  be  hitched  to  the  tractor  and  transported  to  the  sugarcane  field,  making  it  very convenient to use. Capacity of the commercial model is 20,000 sugarcane bud chips/2000 double sett buds. By using this equipment, the soaking time is reduced significantly by almost 90% and saving in chemical 80%, thus making the system environmentally friendly. The equipment has been commercialized and licensed to two manufacturers M/s Cleantek, Coimbatore and M/s PM Cons Engineering India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. About 20 number of equipment has been supplied to different sugar mills in Tamil Nadu.

Two  row  tractor  drawn  mechanical  planter  for  sugarcane  bud  chip  settlings  raised  in portrays: The  equipment  consists  of  mainframe  to  be  attached  to  standard  three  point  hitch arrangement of  a 40 hp tractor with adjustable arrangement for altering row to row spacing of 90,  120  and  150  cm.  Bud  chip  settlings  are  dropped  through  the  metering  mechanism  by  two operators who are seated behind the equipment with adjustable arrangements for  altering plant to plant spacing of 30, 45 and 60 cm. The field capacity of the equipment is 0.15 ha/h and the missing of 3 to 4% at a working speed of 1.4 km/h. The plant establishment was more than 95%. The  yield  and  quality  parameters  are  on  par  when  compared  with  manual  planting.  The equipment has been commercialized and a MoA has been signed with M/s. Rohit Steel Works, Pune.

Moringa leaf stripper: The equipment is used to separate the Moringa leaflets from the harvested bunch of Moringa tree. The machine is powered by 2 hp single phase motor. The capacity of the machine is 300 kg/h. The stripping efficiency was found to be 98%. The percentage damage to the leaves was found to be negligible. The capacity of the machine is 300 kg/h. The farmers can save 93 % cost of operation and 90%  labour over the traditional method of manual stripping. The equipment has been licensed to four manufacturers M/s Arunaas Agro Products, Theni; M/s Grenera  Nutrients  Pvt.  Ltd.,  Erode;  M/s  Sankoh  Process  Equipment,  Hosur,  Krishnagiri    and M/s.  Coir  All  Equipment,  Coimbatore,  Tamil  Nadu.  They  have  supplied  about  100  units  to farmers.

Tractor  operated  check  basin  former :  A  tractor  operated  check  basin  former  has  been developed  at  MPKV,  Rahuri.  The  machine  scrapes,  collects  and  distributes  the  collected  soil uniformly to form side bunds and cross bunds at regular interval of 6 m in a single pass. The size of check basin formed is 2 x 6 m. The effective field capacity of the machine is 0.15 ha/h. The cost of operation of the tractor operated check basin former is Rs. 3075/ha. It gives 96% saving in time and 32% in cost of operation as compared to conventional manual method. M/s Bhansali Agricultural  Implements  Co.,  Kopargaon,  District  Ahmednagar,  Maharashtra  is  engaged  in  its commercial  production  and  sold  15  units  so  far.  The  firm  is  manufacturing  tractor  operated check basin former under the brand name of Bahubali. The annual benefit per unit is Rs 60,000/.

Tractor operated garlic planter : A tractor operated six row garlic planter has been developed at PAU, Ludhiana with actuating spoon (23 mm diameter and 2.5 mm depth size) type metering mechanism for planting of garlic at 150 mm row spacing. It consists of seed metering plate, seed hopper, agitator and seed covering device. The  power to the metering  mechanism is provided from the ground wheel with the help of chain and sprockets. The effective field capacity of the machine is 0.18-0.21 ha/h at a forward speed of 2.00 to 2.25 km/h. An average percentage of missing and multiples are 9.13 and 26.70%, respectively with the garlic planter. There is a saving of 82% in labour requirement and 57% in cost of operation as compared to manual planting. The equipment is jointly developed with M/s Dashmesh Mechanical Works, Amargarh. The annual benefits per unit are Rs 1.00 lakh.

Tractor drawn turmeric rhizome planter: A tractor drawn turmeric rhizome ridger planter has been designed and developed at TNAU, Coimbatore. It consists of 3 ridger bottoms and planting mechanism for planting on one side of the ridges in one pass. The planting mechanism includes rhizome hopper, cup feed seed metering mechanism, rhizome metering shaft, shoe type furrow opener  and  spike  tooth  ground  wheel  with  chain  sprocket  drive  for  transmitting  power  from ground wheel to rhizome metering shaft. Three  rows can be planted at  a  time at  the  required spacing. The effective field capacity of the implement is 0.15 ha/h.  There are savings of 51%, 88% and 50% in cost of operation, labour and  rhizome quantity, respectively as  compared to traditional  method  of  planting.  The  planter  was  released  by  Govt.  of  Tamil  Nadu and TNAU Coimbatore for commercial adoption and use by farmers during 2015. Two manufacturers are currently  manufacturing  the  planter.  Three  units  have  been  supplied  from  AMRC  to  different Institutions. The annual benefits per unit is Rs 42,800/.

Tractor  operated  sugarcane  seedling  (settling)  transplanter: The  tractor  operated  semiautomatic sugarcane settling transplanter has been developed at MPKV, Rahuri for transplanting sugarcane  settlings.  It  consists  of  main  frame,  two  rotary  drums,  power  transmission  system, seedling tray, furrow openers, ground wheel, press wheels, seats for workers and depth control mechanism. The plant to plant and row to row spacing of the machine are 600 and 1500 mm, respectively.  The  working  width  and  depth  of  the  machine  are  1500  and  148-150  mm, respectively. The average effective field capacity is 0.30 ha/h at forward speed of 2.5 km/h. The machine has been commercialized to M/s Balwant Shri Sai Food Processing Equipments Co., Kopergaon in Ahmednagar district and sold 15 units.

Tractor  drawn  planter  cum  boom  sprayer  for  groundnut: A  planter  with  four  nozzles herbicide  spraying  attachment  has  been  designed  and  developed  at  PJTSAU,  Hyderabad  for groundnut  crop.  The  planter  cum  herbicide  sprayer  is  suitable  for  simultaneous  sowing  and spraying of herbicide in groundnut crop. It consists of piston type pump, flat pattern nozzle on the  boom,  two  drums  of  220  l  capacity  each,  seed  box  of  40  kg  capacity  and  inclined  plate metering mechanism for planting of seeds. The piston type pump receives the power from PTO shaft of tractor to pump the chemical from tank into nozzles through inlet and outlet pipes. The spraying attachment is fitted at the back of the planter which sprays the chemical uniformly after the furrow is closed by the covering blade. The effective working width of spraying is 2.40 m and the pump operating pressure ranges 200-500 kPa. The application rate of spraying unit is 492-612 l/ha. The effective field capacity of 8 row implement is 0.62 ha/h at forward speed of 2.5 km/h. Four manufacturers are engaged in commercial production and supplied 10 units. The annual benefit per unit is Rs 55400/ due to double unit operations in single pass.

Tractor operated cassava harvester: A tractor operated cassava harvester has been developed at  TNAU,  Coimbatore.  It  consists  of  main  frame,  shanks,  digging  blade,  hitching  frame  and depth adjustment wheels. It is designed for both two rows and single row operation. The shank is designed as a bent leg plough with an angle of 150 o to accommodate the dug cassava tubers. The blade angle of 5 o is  provided  for  easy  penetration  into  the  soil.  The  row  spacing  can  be altered by moving the shanks in the main frame. The depth wheels are provided to adjust the depth of operation. The effective field capacity is 0.08 ha/h for single row and 0.17 ha/h for two rows machine. The undug tuber is 2.5% and damage to tubers is less than 1%. It saves 40% in cost as compared to manual harvesting. The average annual benefit per unit is Rs 20,000 and 30,000/ for single and 2 row units. M/s Greenfield Equipment India Private Ltd, Coimbatore has manufactured 7 units and sold to users.

Tractor drawn turmeric digger: A 33.6 kW tractor drawn turmeric digger of 1.45 m width has been developed at PJTSAU, Hyderabad. The penetration of blade of the digger into the soil is easy at blade rake angle of 55 o . The implement can dug four rows at 300-350 mm depth in single pass  at  2.5  km/h  tractor  speed  with  an  effective  field  capacity  of  0.36  ha/h.  The  developed turmeric digger is working well for digging the turmeric rhizome lying 200-250 mm deep into soil,  with  negligible  damage.  The  annual  benefit  per  unit  is  Rs  120,000/.  The  equipment  is commercialized to four manufacturers and supplied 100 units to farmers during last three years. The leading firm is M/s Godavari Valley, Hyderabad.

Tractor operated flail type fodder harvester-cum-chaffer for uniform size of cut: Tractor operated flail  type  forage  harvester  cum  chopper  and  loader  developed  at  PAU,  Ludhiana  has been  further  modified.  The  machine  consisted  of  a  rotary  shaft  mounted  with  flail  blades  for harvesting the crop, auger for conveying the cut crop and cutters for chopping and conveying chopped fodder through outlet into the trailer. Auger type conveying unit has been replaced with belt conveyer and positive feeding system. A chaffer head mechanism with spring loaded feed rolls  has  been  provided  at  the  chopper  inlet  to  cut  uniform  size  of  fodder.  The  developed machine was evaluated with two fodder crops viz. maize and sorghum. The field capacity of the machine was 0.19 ha/h with width of cut of 1.2 m and fuel consumption was 6.0 l/h. Average size of cut of chopped fodder was 31 mm. There was saving of 26.98% in cost and 76.80% in labour  over  system  of  fodder  chopping  with  tractor  operated  mower  and  chaffer  cum  loader. There is benefit of Rs 204,000 per annum per unit. Three manufacturers viz M/s Sherpur Agro Industries,  Ludhiana,  M/s  Gurunanak  Agril.  Implements,  Mansa,  M/s  Raj  Works,  Jalandhar, Punjab have manufactured more than 150 units.

Power  operated  sugarcane  sett  cutter: Power  operated  (0.75  kW,  1440  rpm,  single  phase electric motor) sugarcane sett cutter has been developed at MPKV, Rahuri. It has four numbers of cutting blades to cut sugarcane setts. The capacity of the developed cutter is 6500 setts/h. The time required to cut setts for one hectare by the developed machine is 2.13 h. The time saving over manual operation is 93%. The annual benefit per unit is Rs 66,960/. The machine has been

commercialized  to  two  manufacturers  M/s  Sumeet  Technologies,  Pune  and  M/s  Regent Engineering Co., Pune and sold more than 550 units.

Fertilizer  band  placement  cum  earthing  up  machine :  The  tractor  operated  (26  kW  and above) fertilizer band placement cum earthing up machine has been designed and developed at GBPUAT, Pantnagar. The machine is suitable for simultaneous placement of fertilizer, earthing up and cutting of weeds in crops such as maize, sugarcane, potato etc having more than 50 cm row to row spacing. The urea fertilizer application rate ranges from 60 to 250 kg/ha. It helps in top dressing of fertilizer at 50 to 100 mm from the plant. The effective field capacity of machine is 0.56 ha/h with 82.4%  field efficiency. The  equipment is commercialized and one manufacturer in Udham Singh Nagar (Uttarakhand) has already supplied 10 units.

Tractor operated pneumatic planter : Tractor operated pneumatic planter has been developed at MPKV, Rahuri and is suitable for precision planting of single seed of crops like cotton, okra etc  at  pre-determined  spacing.  It  consists  of  main  frame,  aspirator  blower,  disc  with  holes, metering plate, individual hopper, furrow openers and ground wheel. Seed coming in contact with rotating disc gets stuck to the holes on the plate through suction and falls when suction is cut-off at the lowest position near the ground. The effective field capacity of the machine for planting  okra  and  cotton  is  0.3  ha/h.  The  annual  benefit  of  machine  is  Rs  92,000/unit.  The equipment is commercialized to M/s Bhansali Agricultural Implements Co., Kopargaon, district Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.

Air sleeve boom sprayer: Three different types of spraying equipment i.e. air sleeve boom, aero blast and boom sprayers were evaluated by MPUAT Udaipur at three discharge rates and two nozzle pressures (2.8 and 4.2 kg/cm 2 ). Uniformity co-efficient of 2.20, 2.06 and 1.95 was found for air sleeve boom, boom  and aero blast sprayers respectively. The bio-efficacy of monocrotophos was measured for pest like aphids, jassids, mealy bug, thrips, and whitefly. The percent reduction in infestation of pest was observed between 75-82 for air sleeve boom sprayer as  compared to 68-75 for boom sprayer, 62-70 for aero blast sprayer and 11-18 for knapsack sprayer. The annual benefit is Rs 65,000/unit due to saving in costly chemicals and due to higher yield from reduction in percentage of pest infestation. The equipment is commercialized to M/s ASPEE, Mumbai and Gursukh Industries Samrala, Ludhiana.

Variable rate vertical boom type air-assisted sprayer with sensor attachment :  The vertical boom type air assisted sprayer with sensor attachment was developed at MPUAT, Udaipur to deliver the precise amount of chemicals to match the tree configurations and to reduce pesticide use  and  environmental  pollution.  It  consists  of  electronic  control  system  with  two  ultrasonic sensors, a micro-controller board and two proportional solenoid valves, spray and air delivery systems. The spray delivery system consists of pesticide tank, HTP pump and nozzles. The air delivery  system  consists  of  a  centrifugal  blower  and  air  delivery  hoses.  During  operation, ultrasonic  sensor  detects  the  tree  and  determines  its  distance  from  the  tip  of  the  sensor.  After receiving signal from micro-controller board, proportional valve opens and flow of pesticide is allowed  to  the  nozzles  and  thus  spraying  is  completed.  It  was  observed  that  spraying  with variable rate control sprayer significantly reduced quantity of sprayed liquid by 25, 33 and 30% for  two  years old pomegranate, three and half  years old pomegranate and six years old guava orchards,  respectively.  These  savings  can  be  doubled  when  spraying  is  done  on  both  sides  of trees. Thus the unit can benefit Rs 50,000/annum due to saving in costly chemicals and increase in yield by 3-7%. The equipment is commercialized by M/s ASPEE, Mumbai.

Power operated garlic stem and root cutter: A cost effective electric motor operated two ways garlic stem and root cutter has been developed for reduction of human drudgery with increased output capacity. Its capacity with plain type cutter only for one side of the feeder box is 34 kg/h while it is 31 kg/h for serrated type cutter. The mean cutting efficiency of the equipment is 99.2, 99.1 and 98.9% for small, medium and large size bulbs respectively. The power requirement of cutting stem and root is 1.2 kWh. The machinery is commercially available.

Bullock  drawn  traction  sprayer: MAU Parbhani  centre  has  developed  an  animal  operated traction  sprayer  suitable  for  medium  and  heavy  pair  of  bullocks.  It  is  suitable  for  spraying  in soybean, cotton, pigeon pea, groundnut, maize, black gram and vegetable crop. The sprayer has two ground traction  wheels  of  1.2  m  diameter  and  100  mm  width.  The  chemical  is  kept  in  a plastic tank of 200 liter capacity mounted on frame. A flexible PVC hosepipe of 9 mm diameter is used to carry high-pressure fluid. Fourteen hollow cone nozzles of discharge 720 ml/min are used  to  produce  fine  droplets.  The  power  transmission  from  ground  wheel  to  pump  pulley  is given with the help of three set of double  grove pulley  and V-belt. The RPM of pulley at 11 RPM  of  ground  wheel  is  825  rpm.  M/s  Padson  Agro-industries,  Akola  (Maharashtra)  has manufactured and supplied 70 units to farmers.

Women friendly three row rice transplanter: A 3-row rice transplanter suitable for women workers  has  been  developed  at  OUAT  Bhubaneswar.  The  anthropometric  data  and  strength parameters of women female workers were considered for designing this transplanter. The rice variety  (Khandagiri)  of  18  days  seedlings  were  transplanted  using  this  three  row  paddy transplanter. The average missing hills were 3 to 5%. The row to row distance was 24 cm which can  facilitate  weeding  by  Mandwa  or  Cono  weeder  easily.  The  mean  working  heart  rate  of women workers was in the range of 124-128 beats/min. The average field capacity was 170 m 2 /h with a mean working speed of 1.7 km/h. The equipment is being produced and marketed by M/s. Sidheswar Engineering, Bidyadharpur, Cuttack, Odisha .

## OUAT Hand operated coconut dehusker

The OUAT centre of AICRP on ESA developed a hand operated coconut dehusker and it was compared  with  traditional  method  as  well  as  another  model  marketed  by  Implement  Factory Bhubaneswar.  The  mean  values  of  working  heart  rate  during  operation  of  ESA  dehusker, Implement factory dehusker and traditional method were 122, 123 and 125 beats/min and the Δ HR  values  were  41,  45  and  47  beats/min,  respectively.  However,  the  highest  output  of  212 dehusked  nut/h  was  obtained  with  ESA  dehusker  followed  by  traditional  dehusking  method (99nuts/h)  and  Implement  Factory  dehusker  (97  nuts/h). This  unit  has  been  licensed  to  M/s. Unicus Engg. Pvt. Ltd,  23, Madusudan Nagar, Unit - 4, Bhubaneswar and M/s. Swain Engg. Works,  1014,  Nayapalli,  Bhubaneswar.  The  two  manufacturers  have  supplied  more  than  850 units to users.

Improved large cardamom harvesting knife: An improved large cardamom harvesting knife has  been  developed  by  CAEPHT  Gangtok.  The  improved  knife  helps  to  reduce  the  force required in operation, to minimize accident chances, and to reduce the drudgery involved in the task. Weight of the improved knife is about 170 g and the blade material is EN 8 spring steel. Large scale demonstrations were organized in 14 villages of all the four districts of Sikkim and about 620 knives were made available to the large cardamom growers, SHGs and Panchayats.

Bullock  drawn  solar  powered  high  clearance  sprayer: In  order  to  utilize  available  solar energy  and  labour  saving,  a  solar  powered  bullock  drawn  high  clearance  sprayer  has  been devepoed  for  spraying  in  cotton  and  pigeon  pea  crop.The  area  covered  by  the  solar  powered sprayer was about 0.95 to 1.0 ha/h. The payback period is estimated as 3.6 years. The financial saving over the manual knapsack sprayer was 56% for cotton and 67.1% for red gram crop. The percentage of labour saving over the manual knapsack sprayer was 56.6 % for cotton and 59.5 % for  red  gram  crop.  Two  manufacturers  namely  M/s  Sudha  Agro-Industries,  Sinndhanur  Road, Raichur  and  M/s  Varsha  Associates,  Chitradurga  have  been  identified  for  sale  and  service  of sprayer to the farming community. They have supplied 10 units to farmers.

Bullock drawn ridge type drum seeder : Bullock drawn 8 row drum seeder is used for sowing of pre-germinated paddy seeds in line in puddle field at row spacing of 20 cm. The seed rate was

observed to be 30 kg/ha. The output was found to be 5.56 h/ha with field efficiency of 68.25%. The draft requirement was found to be 9.13% of their body weight which indicates that the drum seeder can be operated by a small pair of bullocks sustainably. This implement reduces drudgery, labour and cost as compared with manual line transplanting. Commercial production of bullock drawn drum seeder has been initiated through one Small Scale Industries (SSI) Unit named M/s Brundaban Jew Enterprises, Balasore. He has supplied 5 units to farmers.

Zigzag puddler cum clod breaker: A bullock drawn Zigzag puddler cum clod breaker has been developed by IGKV, Raipur. The equipment serves dual purpose; it can be used as an alternative to  the  wooden  patella  for  clod  breaking  and  can  also  be  used  for  puddling  operations.  The pulverization  by  zigzag  puddler  cum  clod  breaker  was  significantly  higher  as  compared  to planker. The field capacity of implement was 0.26 ha/h with field efficiency of 62.85 %. Dept. of Agri.,  Govt.  of  Chhattisgarh    by  R/F  Farm  Implements  Manufacturing  Unit,  IGKV,  Raipur manufactured ten units and supplied to farmers.

Animal  drawn  multi-crop  seed  drill: The  multi-crop  seed  cum  fertilizer  drill  has  been developed by MPUAT Udaipur for dry sowing of seed spices. The drill consists of a rectangular frame made of MS angle square section on which a seed cum fertilizer box is mounted. Two pneumatic  wheels  are  provided  for  transportation  on  either  side  of  main  frame.  These  are mounted  on  axle.  One  of  the  wheel  acts  as  ground  wheel  and  supplies  power  to  metering mechanism  through  chain  drive.  A  clutch  is  also  provided  to  engage  of  disengage  the  power transmission to seed metering mechanism. This implement has been commercialized through one manufacturer. He has supplied 8 units to farmers.

Bullock  drawn  stubble  collector: MAU  Parbhani  centre  has  developed  an  animal  operated stubble collector. The width and height of stubble collector is 165 cm and 30 cm, respectively. The collection of stubbles is done by 25 nos. tynes placed at 7.5 cm spacing. The tynes are bent inward so as to collect the stubbles. A wooden platform is also provided. The draft of stubble collector when the operator stood on its platform is 894.5 N and without operator standing it was 491.5 N. Animal drawn stubble collector takes 2.5 h per ha for stubble collection.  The cleaning efficiency and output power was 87.93% and 0.80 kW, respectively. This equipment has been commercialized to two manufacturers and they have supplied 30 units to farmers.

******

## Projects and activities on harvesting equipment, modern transport and storage technologies

-  Development of integrated system for harvesting and conveying of bunch crops
-  Design and development of potato Combine harvester suitable for Indian condition
-  Development of hybrid cold storage structure for onion and tomato
-  Adoption/Evaluation of sensor flexible hermetic storage system of grains
-  Self-propelled fruit harvest platforms
-  Design development and evaluation of equipments/machine and storage structures for primary processing and low temperature storage of onions in bulk.
-  Development of technology for destalking and packaging of dried chillies
-  Value chain for fermented millet based products
-  Development of pilot scale modified atmosphere storage system for selected fruits and vegetables
-  Design and development of Wonder Bag for wheat storage
-  Development of solar PV Vapor Compression Refrigeration system(2.54 TR) For Short duration Transient/On Farm Storage Of fresh Horticultural produce
-  Development of an automated packing line for spherical horticultural crops for a pack house
-  Development of technology package for processing and preservation of Palmyra tender fruit
-  Development of Starch/PLA based biodegradable films for packaging of fresh produce
-  Development of Hyperspectral imaging protocol for rapid and non-destructive detection of aflatoxins on maize and groundnut
-  Development of tractor operated minor millet harvester
-  Design and development of sugarcane rind removing equipment for hygienic juice extraction and bottling.
-  Development of impedance based portable instrument for determination of maturity of Mango and Pear

******

## State wise, year wise release of fund for subsidy under Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)

| STATE             | RELEASED 2014-15   | RELEASED 2015-16     | RELEASED 2016-17   | RELEASED 2017-18    | TOTAL RELEASED   |
|-------------------|--------------------|----------------------|--------------------|---------------------|------------------|
| (RS. IN CRORES)   | (RS. IN CRORES)    | (RS. IN CRORES)      | (RS. IN CRORES)    | (RS. IN CRORES)     | (RS. IN CRORES)  |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 10.54              | 7.28                 | 48.99              | 132.92              | 199.73           |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0.49               | 1.88                 | 1.33               | 2.75                | 6.45             |
| Assam             | 5.62               | 0 (allocation 6.92)  | 1.08               | 10                  | 16.7             |
| Bihar             | 9.01               | 0 (allocation 6.92)  | 14                 | 0 (allocation 10.0) | 23.01            |
| Chhattisgarh      | 5.19               | 4                    | 10                 | 30                  | 49.19            |
| Gujarat           | 7.94               | 7.55                 | 6                  | 6.478               | 27.97            |
| Haryana           | 2.55               | 0 (allocation 2.21)  | 0                  | 45                  | 47.55            |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 1.02               | 0.75                 | 4.95               | 11.70               | 18.42            |
| Jammu& Kashmir    | 1.18               | 0.95                 | 3.64               | 1.8                 | 7.57             |
| Jharkhand         | 3.58               | 2.54                 | 2.25               | 1                   | 9.37             |
| Karnataka         | 9.62               | 0 (allocation 9.2)   | 44.41              | 75                  | 129.03           |
| Kerala            | 2.37               | 0 (allocation 1.92)  | 1                  | 9.79                | 13.16            |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 13.92              | 26.02                | 20                 | 43.11               | 103.05           |
| Maharashtra       | 20.34              | 15.96                | 15                 | 34.13               | 85.43            |
| Manipur           | 1.1                | 2.91                 | 0                  | 2.85                | 6.86             |
| Meghalaya         | 1.25               | 0 (allocation 3.63)  | 0.9                | 0.5                 | 2.65             |
| Mizoram           | 0.5                | 2.03                 | 2                  | 3.66                | 8.19             |
| Nagaland          | 0.62               | 2.85                 | 3.33               | 16                  | 22.8             |
| Orissa            | 7.09               | 5.67                 | 35.78              | 66.27               | 114.81           |
| Punjab            | 2.09               | 0 (allocation 1.87)  | 52.09              | 48.5                | 102.68           |
| Rajasthan         | 15.8               | 0 (allocation 12.41) | 4.25               | 23.06               | 43.11            |
| Sikkim            | 0.19               | 0.65                 | 1.44               | 1.38                | 3.66             |
| Tamil Nadu        | 8.44               | 21.39                | 30.3               | 51.34               | 111.47           |
| Telengana         | 6.93               | 4.76                 | 5.97               | 10                  | 27.66            |
| Tripura           | 0.39               | 2.44                 | 2                  | 15.52               | 20.35            |
| UP                | 21.21              | 16.51                | 37.98              | 43.97               | 119.67           |
| Uttarakhand       | 0.91               | 0.78                 | 2.56               | 30.95               | 35.2             |
| West Bengal       | 5.98               | 5.65                 | 4                  | 10                  | 25.63            |
| TOTAL             | 165.87             | 132.57               | 355.25             | 727.68              | 1381.37          |

******

Annexure-IV [Part (c) & (d) of Lok Sabha USQ No. 5250 for 27/03/2018]

| State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   | State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   | State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   | State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   | State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   | State Wise Fund released under Seed Village Programme for the last three and current year   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                                                      | States                                                                                      | Funds Released                                                                              | Funds Released                                                                              | Funds Released                                                                              | Amount Rs. in lakh Funds Released as on date 21.03.2018                                     |
|                                                                                             |                                                                                             | 2014-15                                                                                     | 2015-16                                                                                     | 2016-17                                                                                     | 2017-18                                                                                     |
| 1                                                                                           | Andhra Pradesh                                                                              | 821.00                                                                                      | 700.00                                                                                      | 719.82                                                                                      | 1312.39                                                                                     |
| 2                                                                                           | Assam                                                                                       | 1855.96                                                                                     | 1060.00                                                                                     | 1000.00                                                                                     | 1173.41                                                                                     |
| 3                                                                                           | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                           | 36.53                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 4                                                                                           | Bihar                                                                                       | 638.83                                                                                      | 600.00                                                                                      | 705.62                                                                                      | 324.02                                                                                      |
| 5                                                                                           | Chhattisgarh                                                                                | 626.85                                                                                      | 245.18                                                                                      | 281.29                                                                                      | 365.86                                                                                      |
| 6                                                                                           | Gujarat                                                                                     | 7.54                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        |                                                                                             | 24.21                                                                                       |
| 7                                                                                           | Himachal Pradesh                                                                            | 90.00                                                                                       | 248.00                                                                                      | 375.00                                                                                      | 386.10                                                                                      |
| 8                                                                                           | Haryana                                                                                     | 1.52                                                                                        | 1.34                                                                                        | 0.89                                                                                        | 0.51                                                                                        |
| 9                                                                                           | Jammu & Kashmir                                                                             | 170.09                                                                                      | 391.13                                                                                      | 690.60                                                                                      | 663.60                                                                                      |
| 10                                                                                          | Karnataka                                                                                   |                                                                                             | 20.37                                                                                       | 36.67                                                                                       | 112.35                                                                                      |
| 11                                                                                          | Kerala                                                                                      | 156.00                                                                                      | 3.50                                                                                        | 26.72                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 12                                                                                          | Madhya Pradesh                                                                              | 975.05                                                                                      | 586.52                                                                                      | 1796.74                                                                                     | 1543.53                                                                                     |
| 13                                                                                          | Manipur                                                                                     | 0.00                                                                                        | 4.34                                                                                        | 54.81                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 14                                                                                          | Maharashtra                                                                                 | 954.18                                                                                      | 0.00                                                                                        | 600.00                                                                                      | 2431.00                                                                                     |
| 15                                                                                          | Meghalaya                                                                                   | 34.22                                                                                       | 97.79                                                                                       | 10.50                                                                                       | 141.74                                                                                      |
| 16                                                                                          | Mizoram                                                                                     | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        | 25.00                                                                                       | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 17                                                                                          | Nagaland                                                                                    | 100.00                                                                                      | 131.43                                                                                      | 0.00                                                                                        | 74.99                                                                                       |
| 18                                                                                          | Punjab                                                                                      | 270.00                                                                                      | 317.73                                                                                      | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 19                                                                                          | Odisha                                                                                      | 1668.41                                                                                     | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 20                                                                                          | Rajasthan                                                                                   | 659.89                                                                                      | 122.36                                                                                      | 100.97                                                                                      | 1442.90                                                                                     |
| 21                                                                                          | Tamilnadu                                                                                   | 1288.24                                                                                     | 988.81                                                                                      | 822.00                                                                                      | 1430.00                                                                                     |
| 22                                                                                          | Telangana                                                                                   | 393.13                                                                                      | 350.00                                                                                      | 670.00                                                                                      | 1038.10                                                                                     |
| 23                                                                                          | Uttar Pradesh                                                                               | 1047.40                                                                                     | 899.70                                                                                      | 124.40                                                                                      | 1439.21                                                                                     |
| 24                                                                                          | Uttrakhand                                                                                  | 221.88                                                                                      | 303.01                                                                                      | 87.61                                                                                       | 228.95                                                                                      |
| 25                                                                                          | Puducherry                                                                                  | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.33                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        |
| 26                                                                                          | National Seed Corporatrion                                                                  | 0.00                                                                                        | 0.00                                                                                        | 979.87                                                                                      | 0.00                                                                                        |
|                                                                                             | Total                                                                                       | 12016.716                                                                                   | 7071.53                                                                                     | 9108.49                                                                                     | 14132.86                                                                                    |

*******

## Expenditure on Fertilizer subsidy in the last three years (2014-15 to 2017-18)

(Rs. in Crores)

| Year                     | Imported urea   | Imported P&K   | Indigenous P&K   | Indigenous urea   | City compost   |
|--------------------------|-----------------|----------------|------------------|-------------------|----------------|
| 2014-15                  | 16,200.00       | 8,667.30       | 12,000.00        | 38,200.01         | -              |
| 2015-16                  | 16,400.00       | 9,968.56       | 11,969.00        | 38,200.00         | -              |
| 2016-17                  | 11,256.59       | 6,999.99       | 11,842.88        | 40,000.00         | 0.55           |
| 2017-18 (up to 28.2.2018 | 9,220.60        | 7,714.37       | 12,093.00        | 33,803.42         | 5.89           |

*******

## Inputs are related to subsidy on electricity provided to farmers

(INPUTS OF R&R DIVISION, Ministry of Power)

Electricity is a concurrent subject. Supply and distribution of electricity at an affordable rate  to  all  the  consumers  including  farmers,  in  a  State  /  UT  falls  within  the  purview  of  the respective  State  Government / State Power Utility. The  Government of India supplements the efforts of the State Governments through various measures for improvement in power sector and to  provide  electricity  at  affordable  rates.  The  generation,  transmission  and  distribution  of electricity have a cost and in order for the supply to be sustainable the cost has to be recovered. If a State Government wants to provide cheap electricity to farmers in the country then the State Government will need to meet the costs of the power supplied.

The State Government can give subsidy to any class of consumers including farmers, to the extent they consider appropriate as per provision of Section 65 of the Electricity act, 2003 as well Clause 8.3 of the Tariff Policy. There is no provision to give free power to farmers by the Union Government.

*******