Lok Sabha Question No. 491 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-19
Subject: Assistance under NICRA Scheme
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: PARASURAMAN K.

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 491 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19/12/2017

## ASSISTANCE UNDER NICRA SCHEME

## 491. SHRI K. PARASURAMAN:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  provides  assistance  to  the  farmers  affected  by  climate  change under the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Scheme;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  assistance  given  to  the  farmers  during  the  last  three  years,  State/UTwise; and
- (c) the details of the activities carried out under NICRA Sheme and the procedure for granting the assistance under the NICRA Scheme?

## A N S W E R

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

## कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण मंत्रालय में राज्य मंत्री (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

- (a) Yes, the government is providing assistance to farmers affected by climate change under the National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) under Technology Demonstration Component (TDC).
- (b) The Government has taken a major initiative in the form of launching of National Initiative on  Climate  Resilient  Agriculture  (NICRA)  during  the  year  2011  to  study  the  impact  of  global climate  change  on  the  Indian  agriculture  sector  and  also  to  demonstrate  the  climate  resilient technologies  in  121  climatically  most  vulnerable  districts  of  the  country  under  the  technology demonstration  component  (TDC)  of  NICRA.  Efforts  are  being  made  to  develop  varieties  and cultivars tolerant to abiotic stresses and higher resource use efficiency and management practices for various crops under strategic research component of NICRA.

The technology demonstration addresses climatic vulnerabilities such as droughts, floods, salinity,  frost,  cyclone,  heat  wave  and  cold  wave.  The  technology  demonstrations  aim  at enhancing the adaptive capacity of the farmers and also to cope with climate variability in these vulnerable districts which are essential to achieve climate resilient agriculture.

The climate resilient interventions are implemented by taking a village representing 121 vulnerable districts and aim at developing it in to a climate resilient village. In order to reduce the impact  of  climate  change  and  to  reduce  the  climatic  vulnerabilities  of  the  selected  villages, interventions are being demonstrated on farmers' fields in four modules.

(c) The assistance is in the form of technology demonstrations for minimising the impacts of climate  change  in  various  states  of  the  country.  Technology  demonstrations  were  taken  up  in climatically  vulnerable  districts  of  the  country  by  taking  a  representative  village  from  each district. The number of districts involved in each state in the technology demonstration are given in annexure-I .

Climate  resilient  practices  and  technologies  demonstrated  in  each  of  the  district  can  be categorized under four modules: natural resource management, crop production systems, livestock & fisheries production systems and institutional mechanisms (Annexure-II)

********

## [Part  (c) of Lok Sabha USQ No.491 for 19-12-2017]

## Zone wise distribution of districts taking part in the technology demonstrations in NICRA

| ATARIs         | States and number of districts                                        |   NICRA-KVKs (No.) |
|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| I : Ludhiana   | Punjab (4), Himachal Pradesh (4), Jammu &Kashmir (3), Uttarakhand (2) |                 13 |
| II : Jodhpur   | Rajasthan (5), Haryana (2)                                            |                  7 |
| III : Kanpur   | Uttar Pradesh (13)                                                    |                 13 |
| IV : Patna     | Bihar (7), Jharkhand (6)                                              |                 13 |
| V : Kolkata    | West Bengal (3), Odisha (5), Andaman & Nicobar (1)                    |                  9 |
| VI : Guwahati  | Assam (5), Arunachal Pradesh (3), Sikkim (1)                          |                  9 |
| VII : Barapani | Tripura (2), Nagaland (4), Manipur (3), Mizoram (2), Meghalaya (3)    |                 14 |
| VIII :Pune     | Maharashtra (8), Gujarat (5)                                          |                 13 |
| IX : Jabalpur  | Madhya Pradesh (9), Chhattisgarh (3)                                  |                 12 |
| X : Hyderabad  | Andhra Pradesh (5), Telangana (2), Tamilnadu (4)                      |                 11 |
| XI:Bengaluru   | Karnataka (6), Kerala (1)                                             |                  7 |
| Total          | 28 States + 1 UT                                                      |                121 |

## Climate resilient practices and technologies demonstrated under four modules:

## Module I: Natural Resource Management

This  module  consists  of  interventions  related  to in-situ moisture  conservation,  biomass mulching, residue incorporation instead of burning, brown and green manuring, water harvesting and recycling for supplemental irrigation, improved drainage in flood prone areas, conservation tillage where appropriate, artificial ground water recharge and water saving irrigation methods.

## Module II: Crop Production

This module consists of introducing drought/temperature tolerant varieties, advancement of planting dates of rabi crops in areas with terminal heat stress, water saving paddy cultivation methods  (SRI,  aerobic,  direct  seeding),  frost  management  in  horticulture  through  fumigation, staggered community nurseries for delayed monsoon, custom hiring centers for timely completion of farm operations, location specific intercropping systems with high sustainable yield index.

## Module III: Livestock and Fisheries

Use  of  community  lands  for  fodder  production  during  droughts/floods,  augmentation  of fodder  production  through  improved  planting  material,  improved  fodder/feed  storage  methods, fodder enrichment, prophylaxis, improved  shelters for reducing heat stress in livestock, management  of  fish  ponds/tanks  during  water  scarcity  and  excess  water  and  promotion  of livestock component as a climate change adaptation strategy.

## Module IV: Institutional Interventions

This module consist of institutional interventions either by strengthening the existing ones or initiating new ones relating to community seed bank, fodder bank, commodity groups, custom hiring  centre,  collective  marketing  group,  introduction  of  weather  index  based  insurance  and climate literacy through a village weather station. The program also aims at development of an enabling mechanism at the village level for continued adoption of such practices in a sustainable manner.

*******