Lok Sabha Question No. 6127 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-11
Subject: Assistance under NICRA
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6127 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11/04/2017

## ASSISTANCE UNDER NICRA

## 6127.  SHRI LAXMI NARAYAN YADAV:

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

- (a) whether the Government is providing any assistance to farmers affected by climate change under the National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA);
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the assistance provided to the farmers thereunder during the last three years, Statewise?

## A N S W E R

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

## (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)

(a) & (b): 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).  The  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural Research (ICAR)  has  initiated a project, National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) during 2010-11 to develop adaptation and mitigation practices, for demonstration of technologies on farmers' fields and creating awareness amongst farmers and other stakeholders to minimize the climatic change impacts on agriculture. The project aims to address the issue of climate change and to provide assistance by developing and demonstrating location specific agricultural technologies.

- (c) The  assistance  is  in  the  form  of  technology  demonstrations  for  minimizing  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 .

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## [Part (c) to Lok Sabha USQ No.6127 for 11/04/2017]

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

| ATARI zones      | States and the number of districts                                                                               |   Total districts involved in each zone |
|------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| I : Ludhiana     | Haryana (2), Himachal Pradesh (4), Jammu& Kashmir (3), Punjab (4)                                                |                                      13 |
| II : Kolkata     | A &NIslands (1), Bihar (7), Jharkand (6), West Bangal (3)                                                        |                                      17 |
| III : Barapani   | Arunachal Pradesh (3), Assam (5), Manipur (5), Meghalaya (3), Nagaland (4), Sikkim (1), Tripura (2), Mizoram (2) |                                      23 |
| IV : Kanpur      | Uttar Pradesh (13), Uttarakhand (2)                                                                              |                                      15 |
| V : Hyderabad    | Andhra Pradesh (5), Telangana (2), Maharashtra (8)                                                               |                                      15 |
| VI : Jodhpur     | Rajasthan (5), Gujarat (5)                                                                                       |                                      10 |
| VII : Jabalpur   | Chhattisgarh (3), Madhya Pradesh (9), Odisha (5)                                                                 |                                      17 |
| VIII : Bengaluru | Tamil Nadu (4), Karnataka (6), Kerala (1)                                                                        |                                      11 |
| Total            | 28 + 1 UT                                                                                                        |                                     121 |

## Technology demonstrations in NICRA under four modules

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.

## 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.