Lok Sabha Question No. 2810 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-13
Subject: Reduction in Agriculture Cost
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: PARAYAMPARANBIL KUTTAPPAN BIJU

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2810

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 TH   MARCH, 2018

## REDUCTION IN AGRICULTURE COST

2810.  DR. P.K. BIJU:

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

- (a) the details of schemes being implemented by the Government to reduce the agriculture cost;
- (b) the  amount  of  budget  allocated  for  the  said  schemes  and  the  amount  spent  thereon during the last three years;
- (c) the number of farmers benefited from the said schemes, Scheme-wise; and
- (d) the details of the reduction in cost of agriculture per hectare through implementation of the schemes and the amount of increase in the income of farmers during the last three years?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a) & (b): Agriculture is a State Subject.  Government  of India facilitates the State Governments  through  many  Centrally  Sponsored  and  Central  Sector  Schemes  to  increase production,  implementation  of  new  technologies  to  reduce  cost  of  cultivation  like  improved variety of seeds, drip irrigation, soil testing and using fertilizers most suited for crops, scientific crop  production  technologies,  seed  minikit  etc.,  A  statement  showing  the  amount  of  budget allocated and amount spent thereon during the last three years is annexed at Annexure.
- (c): Some indicators regarding number of farmers benefitted under various schemes is as follows:

Under  Sub  Mission  on  Agricultural  Mechanisation  (SMAM),  launched  during  2014-15, 20483  demonstrations  have  been  conducted,  14273  number  of  trainers  have  been  trained, 544509 number of agricultural machinery distributed, 5492 number of Custom Hiring Centres established,  58  Hi-Tech  hubs  and  2898  number  of  Farm  Machinery  Banks  have  been established at farm level.

Under  Parampragat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY),  2.0  lakh  hectares  of  land  has  been converted under organic farming and 5.0 lakh farmers have benefitted with effect from 2015-16 onwards.

Under Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) from 2015-16, 45863 hectare area has been brought under Organic Farming in the North Eastern States, 82 Farmer Producer Centers (FPCs) have been registered and 2406 Farmers Interest Group (FIGs) have been formed and 44064 farmers are mobilized.

Under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), about 574 lakh farmers have been covered over an area of 571 lakh hectares during Kharif 2016 and Rabi 2016-17 seasons.

Under  Seed  Village  Programme,  the  number  of  farmers  benefitted  in  2017-18  was 16.131  lakhs.  Over  1.32  crore  farmers  have  benefitted  through  different  extension  activities under Sub Mission on Agricultural Extension since 2014-15.

Data on all Schemes is not available.

(d): the details of the reduction in cost of agriculture per hectare through implementation of schemes and the amount of increase in the income of farmers is as under:

## 1. Soil Health Card Scheme

As per feedback received from farmers from 21 states covering 171 districts, it emerged that application of fertilizers as per the recommendation of soil health cards led to savings in nitrogen fertilizers like urea thereby resulting in reduction in cost of cultivation.

Rice - the cost of cultivation is reduced  by 16-25% and savings of nitrogen are found to be around 20 Kg per hectare.

Pulses - 10-15% reduction in cost of cultivation cost and savings of 10 Kg per hectare of urea is observed. Oil Seeds - reduction in cost of cultivation is 10-15% and savings on nitrogen is 9 Kg/acre in sunflower, around 23 kg/acre in ground nut and around 30 kg/acre in castor.

Cash crops - in case of cotton, reduction in cultivation cost is 25% and savings on nitrogen fertilizer is around 35 kg/acre.

Horticulture crops: In potato, 46 kg/acre of nitrogen saving is observed.

Savings on fertilizers and increase in production also resulted in increased income to the farmers:

Paddy: Increase in income around Rs. 4500/ per acre.

Tur: Increase in income to Rs. 25000-30,000/- per acre

Sunflower: Increase in income around Rs. 25000/- per acre

Groundnut: Increase in income around Rs. 10000/- per acre

Cotton: Increase in income around Rs. 12000/- per acre

Potato: Increase in income around Rs. 3000/- per acre.

## 2. Micro Irrigation

An  impact  evaluation  study  for  Micro  Irrigation  was  carried  out  in  the  year  2014  and major findings of the study are:

Irrigation cost reduced by 20% to 50% with average of 32.3%.

Electricity consumption reduced by about 31%.

Saving of fertilizers varied from 7% to 42%.

Average productivity of fruits and vegetables increased by about 42.3% and 52.8%.

Overall  income  enhancement of  farmers  in  the  range  of  20%  to  68%  with  average  of 48.5%.

An  evaluation  Study  on  Rainfed  Area  Development  was  carried  out  in  the  year  2017 which concluded that the average annual family income of the beneficiaries witnessed increase of about 39 % due to project interventions.

The Seeds produced under Seed Village Programme is used by the farmers for next 3 years  and  also  distributed  /shared/exchanged  on  purchase  /barter  method.  This  reduces  the seed input cost which may vary from crop to crop.  Use of this improved farm saved seeds/farm produced seeds increases the farm productivity to the extent of 5-10% approximately and the amount of increase in the income of farmers vary from crop to crop.

|                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  | Annexure                                                         | Annexure                                                         |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 | ANNEXURE TO Part (b) of LSUSQ- 2810 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.03.2018 |
| Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers                 |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  |                                                                  | Rs. In Crore                                                     | Rs. In Crore                                                     |
| Sl No.                                                           | Name of Mission /Scheme                                          | 2014-15                                                          | 2014-15                                                          | 2014-15                                                          | 2015-16                                                          | 2015-16                                                          | 2015-16                                                          | 2016-17                                                          | 2016-17                                                          | 2016-17                                                          |
|                                                                  |                                                                  | BE                                                               | RE                                                               | Actual Exp.                                                      | BE                                                               | RE                                                               | Actual Exp.                                                      | BE                                                               | RE                                                               | Actual Exp.                                                      |
| 1                                                                | National Food Security Mission                                   | 2030.00                                                          | 1830.00                                                          | 1872.74                                                          | 1300.00                                                          | 1136.61                                                          | 1162.34                                                          | 1700.00                                                          | 1280.00                                                          | 1286.03                                                          |
| 2                                                                | Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)        | 2263.00                                                          | 1990.07                                                          | 1956.45                                                          | 2000.00                                                          | 1769.59                                                          | 1696.80                                                          | 1620.00                                                          | 1660.00                                                          | 1493.07                                                          |
| 3                                                                | National Mission On Oilseeds & Oil Palm                          | 433.00                                                           | 333.00                                                           | 319.07                                                           | 353.00                                                           | 272.03                                                           | 305.81                                                           | 500.00                                                           | 376.00                                                           | 327.50                                                           |
| 4                                                                | National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture                     | 1684.00                                                          | 1456.37                                                          | 1391.77                                                          | 835.00                                                           | 747.47                                                           | 701.38                                                           | 1062.00                                                          | 879.50                                                           | 658.35                                                           |
| 5                                                                | National Mission on Agriculture Extension and Technology         | 1316.00                                                          | 1229.14                                                          | 1241.86                                                          | 1170.35                                                          | 1079.95                                                          | 1033.10                                                          | 1100.00                                                          | 1226.50                                                          | 1215.27                                                          |
| 6                                                                | Secretariat Services                                             | 13.00                                                            | 12.50                                                            | 11.51                                                            | 15.00                                                            | 13.84                                                            | 12.43                                                            | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             |
| 7                                                                | Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census and Statistics           | 257.00                                                           | 225.90                                                           | 216.56                                                           | 257.00                                                           | 210.00                                                           | 218.58                                                           | 210.00                                                           | 188.00                                                           | 172.18                                                           |
| 8                                                                | Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana                                 | 2823.00                                                          | 2784.93                                                          | 2598.35                                                          | 2823.00                                                          | 3185.09                                                          | 2983.04                                                          | 5500.00                                                          | 16836.32                                                         | 14650.83                                                         |
| 9                                                                | Debentures of land Development Banks                             | 25.00                                                            | 10.00                                                            | 10.89                                                            | 12.00                                                            | 12.30                                                            | 12.30                                                            | 0.00                                                             | 25.00                                                            | 18.18                                                            |
| 10                                                               | Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Marketing                       | 800.00                                                           | 1035.00                                                          | 979.80                                                           | 900.00                                                           | 750.36                                                           | 570.30                                                           | 787.90                                                           | 1270.00                                                          | 782.49                                                           |
| 11                                                               | Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Cooperation                     | 111.00                                                           | 98.99                                                            | 99.41                                                            | 111.00                                                           | 126.00                                                           | 121.70                                                           | 130.00                                                           | 130.00                                                           | 129.81                                                           |
| 12                                                               | Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana(RKVY)                              | 9954.00                                                          | 8444.00                                                          | 8443.20                                                          | 4500.00                                                          | 3900.00                                                          | 3940.01                                                          | 5400.00                                                          | 3550.00                                                          | 3891.86                                                          |
| 13                                                               | Price Stabilisation Fund                                         | 500.00                                                           | 50.00                                                            | 50.00                                                            | 450.00                                                           | 660.00                                                           | 660.00                                                           | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             |
| 14                                                               | National Agri-Tech Infrastructure                                | 100.00                                                           | 0.10                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 100.00                                                           | 80.00                                                            | 51.19                                                            | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             |
| 15                                                               | Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana                             | 0.00                                                             | 30.00                                                            | 0.00                                                             | 1800.00                                                          | 1550.01                                                          | 1555.94                                                          | 2340.00                                                          | 1990.00                                                          | 1991.25                                                          |
| 16                                                               | National Rainfed Area Authority                                  | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 20.00                                                            | 6.75                                                             | 3.08                                                             | 0.10                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             |
| 17                                                               | National Agriculture Market                                      | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 0.00                                                             | 50.00                                                            | 0.00                                                             | 44.90                                                            |

***********