Lok Sabha Question No. 2918 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-13
Subject: Income of Farmer
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE, KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL, M. CHANDRAKASI

O.I.H

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2918

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 TH  March, 2018

## INCOME OF FARMER

2918.      SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE:

SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL:

SHRI M. CHANDRAKASI:

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

- (a) whether the income from farming is insufficient or meagre for most of the farmers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether climate change is one of the major reasons for insufficient/meagre income of the farmers and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  the  farmers  are  moving  towards  other  professions  due  to  non-profitability  of agriculture in the country and if so, the details thereof, State-wise
- (e) whether Swaminathan committee has given any suggestion/recommendation to ameliorate the financial condition of farmers and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to make farming a profitable profession and to increase the income of the 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)  to  (c):        According  to  the  'Situation  Assessment  Survey  of  Agricultural  Households' conducted by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in 2013, the average monthly income per agricultural household from various sources is estimated to be Rs. 6426. Moreover, as per the survey  results,  the  average  monthly  receipts  from  crop  production  per  agricultural  household exceeded their average monthly paid out expenses by Rs. 3350 for selected crops.

The survey has not specified any reason for the low income of farmers.

(d): As  per  the  Census  conducted  by  the  Registrar  General  of  India,  the  total  number  of agricultural  workers  in  the  country,  comprising  of  cultivators  and  agricultural  labourers,  have increased from 234.1 million (127.3 million cultivators and 106.8 million agricultural labourers) in 2001 to 263.1 million (118.8 million cultivators and 144.3 million agricultural labourers) in 2011. State/UT-wise details of number of cultivators and agricultural labourers as per Census 2001 and 2011 is given in the Annexure.

(e): The  National  Commission on Farmers (NCF) headed by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan has made several recommendations for improving the financial conditions of farmers in 2006, which have been incorporated in the 'National Policy for Farmers, 2007' (NPF 2007).

The Policy provisions in NPF-2007 include, inter-alia, (i) asset reforms in respect of land, water, livestock, fisheries and bio-resources; (ii) supply of good quality seeds and disease-free planting  material,  (iii)  issue  of  soil  health  passbooks  to  the  farmers  and  integrated  pest management  system;  (iv)  region  and  crop  specific  implements  and  machinery;  (v)  timely, adequate and easy reach of institutional credit at reasonable interest rates and farmer-friendly insurance instruments; (vi) support services and inputs like application of frontier technologies; (vii) use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and setting up of farm schools to revitalize agricultural extension; (viii) effective implementation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) across the country and establishing community foodgrain banks; (ix) development of agricultural market infrastructure and terminal markets for agriculture; (x) special categories of farming like organic  farming  and  contract  farming;  (xi)  rural  non-farm  employment  initiative  for  farm households, etc.

(f): Various new schemes/ programmes are being implemented for increasing profitability in  the  farming  sector,  including,  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana,  Soil  Health  Card, Paramparagat Krishi  Vikas  Yojana,  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana,  Neem  Coated  Urea, National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM),  etc.  The  Minimum  Support  Prices  (MSP)  of  major agricultural commodities have also been progressively increased to ensure remunerative price to the farmers.

Moreover, Government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee on 13.04.2016 to examine issues relating to doubling of farmers' income and recommend a strategy to achieve the same by the year 2022. The Committee has so far uploaded ten Volumes of the draft Report on the website of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (http://agricoop.nic.in/doubling-farmers) for seeking public opinion.

Annexure

## Annexure in reference to Reply to Part (d) of the Unstarred Question No. 2918 due for reply on 13-03-2018

## Number of Agricultural Workers in India (in Million)

| S.No.   | State/ UT                       |   Cultivators |   Cultivators |   Agricultural Labourers |   Agricultural Labourers |   Total |   Total |
|---------|---------------------------------|---------------|---------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|---------|---------|
|         |                                 |       2001    |       2011    |                  2001    |                  2011    | 2001    | 2011    |
|         | ALL INDIA                       |        127.31 |        118.81 |                   106.78 |                   144.33 |  234.09 |  263.14 |
| 1       | JAMMU & KASHMIR                 |          1.59 |          1.25 |                     0.25 |                     0.55 |    1.84 |    1.8  |
| 2       | HIMACHAL PRADESH                |          1.95 |          2.06 |                     0.09 |                     0.18 |    2.04 |    2.24 |
| 3       | PUNJAB                          |          2.07 |          1.93 |                     1.49 |                     1.59 |    3.56 |    3.52 |
| 4       | CHANDIGARH                      |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0    |    0    |
| 5       | UTTARAKHAND                     |          1.57 |          1.58 |                     0.26 |                     0.4  |    1.83 |    1.98 |
| 6       | HARYANA                         |          3.02 |          2.48 |                     1.28 |                     1.53 |    4.3  |    4.01 |
| 7       | DELHI                           |          0.04 |          0.03 |                     0.02 |                     0.04 |    0.06 |    0.07 |
| 8       | RAJASTHAN                       |         13.14 |         13.62 |                     2.52 |                     4.94 |   15.66 |   18.56 |
| 9       | UTTAR PRADESH                   |         22.17 |         19.06 |                    13.4  |                    19.94 |   35.57 |   39    |
| 10      | BIHAR                           |          8.19 |          7.2  |                    13.42 |                    18.35 |   21.61 |   25.55 |
| 11      | SIKKIM                          |          0.13 |          0.12 |                     0.02 |                     0.03 |    0.15 |    0.15 |
| 12      | ARUNACHAL PRADESH               |          0.28 |          0.3  |                     0.02 |                     0.04 |    0.3  |    0.34 |
| 13      | NAGALAND                        |          0.55 |          0.54 |                     0.03 |                     0.06 |    0.58 |    0.6  |
| 14      | MANIPUR (Excl. 3 Sub-divisions) |          0.38 |          0.57 |                     0.11 |                     0.11 |    0.49 |    0.69 |
| 15      | MIZORAM                         |          0.26 |          0.23 |                     0.03 |                     0.04 |    0.29 |    0.27 |
| 16      | TRIPURA                         |          0.31 |          0.3  |                     0.28 |                     0.35 |    0.59 |    0.65 |
| 17      | MEGHALAYA                       |          0.47 |          0.49 |                     0.17 |                     0.2  |    0.64 |    0.69 |
| 18      | ASSAM                           |          3.73 |          4.06 |                     1.26 |                     1.85 |    4.99 |    5.91 |
| 19      | WEST BENGAL                     |          5.65 |          5.12 |                     7.36 |                    10.19 |   13.01 |   15.31 |
| 20      | JHARKHAND                       |          3.89 |          3.81 |                     2.85 |                     4.44 |    6.74 |    8.25 |
| 21      | ORISSA                          |          4.25 |          4.1  |                     5    |                     6.74 |    9.25 |   10.84 |
| 22      | CHHATTISGARH                    |          4.31 |          4    |                     3.09 |                     5.09 |    7.4  |    9.09 |
| 23      | MADHYA PRADESH                  |         11.04 |          9.84 |                     7.4  |                    12.19 |   18.44 |   22.03 |
| 24      | GUJARAT                         |          5.8  |          5.45 |                     5.16 |                     6.84 |   10.96 |   12.29 |
| 25      | DAMAN & DIU                     |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0.01 |    0    |
| 26      | DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI            |          0.04 |          0.03 |                     0.01 |                     0.02 |    0.05 |    0.05 |
| 27      | MAHARASHTRA                     |         11.81 |         12.57 |                    10.82 |                    13.49 |   22.63 |   26.06 |
| 28      | ANDHRA PRADESH                  |          7.86 |          6.49 |                    13.83 |                    16.97 |   21.69 |   23.46 |
| 29      | KARNATAKA                       |          6.88 |          6.58 |                     6.23 |                     7.16 |   13.11 |   13.74 |
| 30      | GOA                             |          0.05 |          0.03 |                     0.04 |                     0.03 |    0.09 |    0.06 |
| 31      | LAKSHADWEEP                     |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0    |    0    |
| 32      | KERALA                          |          0.72 |          0.67 |                     1.62 |                     1.32 |    2.34 |    1.99 |
| 33      | TAMIL NADU                      |          5.12 |          4.25 |                     8.64 |                     9.61 |   13.76 |   13.86 |
| 34      | PUDUCHERRY                      |          0.01 |          0.01 |                     0.07 |                     0.07 |    0.08 |    0.08 |
| 35      | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS       |          0.02 |          0.02 |                     0.01 |                     0    |    0.03 |    0.02 |

Note: The Census 2001 figures for India and Manipur exclude that of Mao Param, Paomata and Purul sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur

Source: PCA, Census of India, 2011

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