Lok Sabha Question No. 2249 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-31
Subject: Agricultural Reforms
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: TARIQ ANWAR

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

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2249

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  31 ST  JULY, 2018

## AGRICULTURAL REFORMS

## 2249.  SHRI TARIQ ANWAR:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE      ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  किसान

िल्याण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  for  agricultural  reforms  in  the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number of States which have been agreed with the Union Government so far, for agricultural reforms; and
- (c) the time by which the said reforms are likely to be implemented for the welfare of the farmers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं किसान िल्याण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã ½ãñâ Àã·¾ã ½ãâ¨ããè ( SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) to (c): Agriculture being as a State subject, the State Governments are primarily responsible  for  the  growth  and  development  of  agriculture  sector  and  developing perspective plans for their respective States and ensuring effective implementation of the  programmes/schemes.  However,  Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of the State Governments through various Schemes/ Programmes.

The strategy of the Government is to focus on farmers welfare by making farming viable.  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 taken a number of measures.  The Government has been reorienting the agriculture sector by focusing on an income-centeredness which goes beyond achieving merely  the  targeted  production.  The  income  approach  focuses  on  achieving  high productivity, reduced cost of cultivation and remunerative price on the produce, with a view  to  earn  higher  profits  from  farming.  Various  initiatives  by  way  of  schemes  and policy reforms have been rolled out in consonance with this approach.  Further, these initiatives are supported by a big jump in the much needed budgetary allocations for the agriculture sector. For the period 2009-2014, the budget for agriculture was Rs.1,21,082 crore.  During  2014-2019,  the  allocation  has  been  enhanced  by  74.5  per  cent  to Rs.2,11,694 crore. Besides, Non-budgetary resources have been mobilized to supplement  budgetary  resources.      Following    are  the    corpus    fund  created  during 2014-19:

-  Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) to complete long pending 99 irrigation projects and  create  7.6  million  ha  of  irrigation  by  December  2019  -  Rs.40,000  crore (2016-17 and 2017-18). The total investment is expected to be Rs. 80,000 crore (approx)
-  Micro Irrigation Fund for water use efficiency - Rs.5,000 crore (2017-18)
-  Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund - Rs.10,881 crore (2017-18)
-  Fisheries  and  Aqua  Culture  Infrastructure  Development  Fund  -  Rs.  7,522.48 crore (2018-19)
-  Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund - Rs. 2,450 crore (2018-19) Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund - Rs. 2,000 crore (2018-19).

Further, the Government is implementing a number of reforms in agriculture sector for the benefit of farmers such as:

(i) Electronic National Agriculture  Market (e-NAM ) which is an innovative market process  to  revolutionize  agri-markets  by  ensuring  better  price  discovery,  bringing  in transparency and competition to enable farmers to get improved remuneration for their produce moving towards 'One Nation One Market'. The Department has achieved the target of integration of 585 mandis with e-NAM by March 2018. Additional 200 mandies to be integrated by 2018-19 under e-NAM.

(ii) Existing 22,000 rural haats to be developed  and  upgraded  into  Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). These GrAMs, electronically linked to e-NAM portal and exempted from regulations of Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), will provide farmers facility to make direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers.

(iii) The Model Agricultural Produce & Livestock Marketing (Promotion & Facilitation) Act,  2017  released  in  April,  2017  for  adoption  by  State/UTs  to  promote  alternative competitive marketing channels for better pricing for farmers.

(iv) The  Model  Agricultural  Produce  &  Livestock  Contract  Farming  and  Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018 released in May, 2018, for adoption by State/UTs to encourage private investment in developing efficient marketing infrastructure and value chain.

(v)      To address the issues in the area of land leasing, NITI Aayog has developed The Model  Land  Lease  Act,  2016  for  adoption  by  States.  The  Model  Act  offers  an appropriate template for the states and UTs to draft their own piece of legislations, in consonance with the local requirements and adopt an enabling Act.

In  addition,  the  Department  has  been  implementing  various  schemes  for betterment  of  agriculture  sector  viz;  Soil  Health  Card  (SHC)  scheme;  Neem  Coated Urea (NCU); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY);  Paramparagat Krishi Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY);  National  Agriculture  Market  scheme  (e-NAM);  Pradhan  Mantri Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY);  National  Food  Security  Mission  (NFSM);  Mission  for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH); National Mission on Oilseeds & Oilpalm (NMOOP); National  Mission  for  Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA);  National  Mission  on Agricultural  Extension  &  Technology  (NMAET)  and  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana (RKVY).      In  addition,  schemes  relating  to  tree  plantation  (Har  Medh  Par  Ped),  Bee Keeping, Dairy and Fisheries are also implemented.

Further, Minimum Support Price (MSP) is notified for both Kharif and Rabi crops based  on  the  recommendations  of  the  Commission  on  Agriculture  Costs  &  Prices (CACP).  The  Commission  collects & analyses data on cost of activation and recommends MSP.  In  the  budget  for  2018-19  the  Government  had  announced  that MSP for all unannounced Kharif crops will be 1.5 times   the cost of production.  Giving a  major  boost  for  the  farmers  income,  the  Cabinet  Committee  on  Economic  Affairs (CCEA) in its meeting held on 04.07.2018  has approved the increase in the MSPs for all  Kharif  crops  for  2018-19  season  at  a  level  of  at  least  150  percent  of  the  cost  of production.

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