Lok Sabha Question No. 3230 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-16
Subject: Deadline for Doubling Farmers Income
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Behanan Benny

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3230

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16 TH  MARCH, 2021

## DEADLINE FOR DOUBLING FARMERS INCOME

3230:      SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

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

- (a) the  date  by  which  the  Government  intends  to  fulfil  to  promise  of  doubling  farmer incomes  considering  that  a  Government  publication  'Transforming  India'  (March  2020) mentioned the target year as 2024 instead of 2022; and
- (b) whether the Government accepts that it has not been able to meet its own deadline of doubling the farmers' income by 2022 and if so, the reason for such a delay?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) & (b) : The  Government  constituted  an  Inter-ministerial  Committee  in  April,  2016  to examine  issues  relating  to  'Doubling  of  Farmers  Income'  and  recommend  strategies  to achieve the same.  The Committee submitted its Report to the Government in September, 2018  containing  the  strategy  for  doubling  of  farmers'  income  by  the  year  2022.  After acceptance  of  the  DFI  Committee  recommendations,  the  Government  has  constituted  an 'Empowered Body' to review and monitor the progress.

The Government has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers. All these policies & programmes are being supported by higher budgetary allocations, non-budgetary financial resources by way  of  creating  Corpus  Funds  like  Micro  Irrigation  Fund  and  Agri-marketing  Fund  to strengthen eNAM and GrAMs, Market Reforms like Model APLMC (Promotion & Facilitation) Act,  2017,  Establishment  of  22,000  number  of  Gramin  Agriculture  Markets  (GrAMs),  AgriExport Policy, The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act., 2020, The Farmers  (Empowerment & Protection)  Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm

Services Act.,  2020,Amendments to Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Promotion of 10,000 FPOs and supplementary income transfers  under PM-KISAN,  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima Yojna  (PMFBY),  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojna  (PMKSY),  Increase  in  Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif & Rabi Crops, Har Med Par Ped, Bee-Keeping, Rashtriya Gokul  Mission,  Blue  Revolution,  Interest  Subvention  Scheme,  Kisan  Credit  Card  (KCC), etc.The  latest  major  intervention  includes  the  'Atma  Nirbhar  Bharat  -  Agriculture'  which includes  comprehensive  market  reforms  and  creation  of  'Agricultural  Infrastructure  Fund (AIF)'  worth  Rs.  1  lakh  crores.  In  the  Budget  Announcement  2021-22,  allocation  to  Micro Irrigation  Fund  has  been  doubled  to  Rs  10000  crore  and  Institutional  Credit  has  been increased to Rs 16.50 lakh crore. A list of achievements of the Government is at Annexure.

## ACHIEVEMENTS

## 1.  Unprecedented enhancement in budget allocation

In the year 2013-14, the Budget allocation for Department of Agriculture was only Rs. 21933.50 crore. This has been increased by more than 5.5 times to Rs. 1,23017.57 crore in 2021-22.

2. Food grain production has increased from 265.05 million tonnes in 2013-14 to record 297.50 million tonnes in 2019-20 which is the highest ever food grain production as per the 2 nd advance estimates for 2020-21, it is 303.34 million tonnes. This is the first time  that  the  300  million  mark  will  be  crossed.  As  per  third  advanced  estimates, horticulture production during 2019-20 is 319.57 million MT which is the highest ever for Indian horticulture.
3.  Fixing of MSP at one-and-a half times the cost of production -
- Government  has  increased  the  MSP  for  all  mandated  Kharif,  Rabi  and  other commercial  crops  with  a  return  of  at  least  50  per  cent  over  all  India  weighted average cost of production from 2018-19.
- MSP for Paddy has increased to Rs. 1868 per quintal in 2020-21 from Rs. 1310 per quintal in 2013-14 marking an increase of 43%.
- MSP for Wheat increased from Rs. 1400 per quintal in 2013-14 to Rs. 1975 per quintal in 2020-21.

## 4.  Increase in procurement from farmers

- MSP payment to   farmers for pulses has increased by 95.93 times during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 201314.  MSP Payment of Rs 61,861 Crore has been made as against Rs 645 Crore of the previous 5 years.
- MSP payment  to  farmers  for  oilseeds  and  copra  has  increased  by  10.80  times during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14. MSP Payment of Rs 26627 Crore has been made as against Rs 2460 Crore of the previous 5 years.

## 5.  Income support to farmers through PM KISAN

Launch  of  PM-KISAN  in  2019  -an  income  support  scheme  providing  Rs.  6000  per year in 3 equal instalments. A total of Rs. 115276.77 crore has been released so far to 10.74 crore farmer families .

## 6.  Pradhan MantriFasalBimaYojana (PMFBY)

PMFBY  was  launched  in  2016  addressing  problems  of  high  premium  rates  for farmers and  reduction in sum  insured due  to capping. In past 4 years of implementation  -  23  crore  farmer  applicants  enrolled      and  over  7.6  crore  farmer applicants have received claims of over Rs. 90,927 crore .  During this period nearly ₹17,510 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of  nearly  ₹90,000  Crore  have  been  paid  to  them. Thus,  for  every  100  rupees  of premium paid by farmers, they have received Rs. 520 as claims.

## 7.  Institutional credit for agriculture sector

- Increased from Rs. 7.3 lakh crore in 2013-14 with a target to reach Rs. 16.5 lakh crore in 2021-22.
- Benefit of concessional institutional credit through KCC at 4% interest per annum has  also  now  been  extended  to  Animal  Husbandry  and  Fisheries  farmers  for meeting theirshort term working capital needs.
- A special drive has been undertaken since February 2020 to provide concessional credit to PM-KISAN beneficiaries through Kisan Credit Cards.  179.08 lakh KCC applications  sanctioned and Rs. 168368.33 crore loan sanctioned as part of the drive.

## 8.  Providing Soil Health Cards to farmers

Soil Health Card Scheme was introduced in the year 2014-15 to optimize usage of nutrients.  Soil  health  cards  have  been  issued  free  of  cost  to  nearly  11  crore farmers under a nationwide program.

## 9.  Promotion of organic farming in the country

- ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana  (PKVY)  was  initiated  in  2015-16  to  promote organic farming in the country. 30934 clusters have been formed and an area of 6.19 lakh ha has been covered benefitting 15.47 lakh farmers.
- Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region (MOVCDNER) has  been  launched.  169  Farmer  Producer  Companies  have  been  formed comprising of 83,096 farmers and covering 79,445 ha area.

## 10.  Neem Coating of Urea

Neem Coated Urea has been introduced since 2015-16 to ensure long availability of nutrients in the soil by slow release of nitrogen. It has also helped in curtailing diversion of urea for non- agricultural activities.

## 11.  Agri Infrastructure Fund

Rs.  1  lakh  crore  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF) has  been  launched  to provide medium to long term debt financing for investment in viable projects for postharvest  management  Infrastructure  and  community  farming  assets  through  3% interest subvention and Credit Guarantee support for loans  upto Rs. 2 crore.   As on date,  3055 projects of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies worth a loan amount of Rs. 2991 crore have been sanctioned by NABARD.  1134 Projects (other than PACs) worth Rs. 1155 Crore have already been approved by PMU for financing under the scheme.

Rs.286 crore has been sanctioned by banks for 276 projects.

## 12.  Promotion of FPOs

Scheme  for  Formation  and  Promotion  of  10,000  FPOs  launched  with  a  total budgetary provision of Rs. 6865 Crore in February 2020.

13. A National Bee and Honey Mission (NBHM) has been launched in 2020 as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Rs.500 crore for the period 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 has been allocated for the sector.

## 14.  PradhanMantriKrishiSinchaiYojana (PMKSY)

Per  Drop  more  Crop  component  of  Pradhan  MantriKrishiSinchaiYojana(PMKSY PDMC) aims  to  increase  water  use  efficiency  at  the  farm  level  through  precision micro irrigation technologies i.e. drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. Additional 51.54 lakh hectare area has been covered under micro irrigation from the year 2015-16 till date in the country.  An  amount of  Rs. 13473.37  crore as central assistance has been provided to states under PMKSY since 2015-16.

## 15.  Micro Irrigation Fund

A Micro  Irrigation  Fund  of  Rs 5000 crore has  been  placed  with  NABARD.   In  the Budget  for  2021-22  the  corpus  of  the  fund  has  been  increased  to  Rs.1000 crores.Projects  worth Rs 3955.33 crore covering  12.79 lakh  hectares  have  been approved.

## 16.  Agricultural Mechanization

Agricultural mechanisation is extremely vital to modernise agriculture and reduce drudgery of farming operations.  During the period from 2014-15 to 2020-21 an amount of Rs.4556.93 crore have been allocated for agricultural mechanisation. 1266844 numbers of machines and equipments have been provided to farmers on subsidy.   14182 custom hiring centers, 310 high-tech hubs and 13080 farm machinery banks have been established.

## 17.  Changes in Disaster Relief Standards

-  Major changes were made in disaster relief standards and assistance amount of all categories was increased by one and a half times.
- Earlier, compensation  was  payable  only on  crop  loss  of  more  than 50%. Compensation is now payable even if the loss is 33% only.
- The Ex-gratia payment to families of deceased victims of natural disasters has been increased from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.4 lakh.
- Admissibility of assistance has been increased from one hectare to two hectare.

## 18.  Setting up of E-NAM extension Platform

- In  18 states  and 03 UTs,  1000 markets  have  been  integrated  with  the  E-NAM Platform. In the Budget 2021-22 another 1000 mandis will be integrated with eNAM.
- 1.69 crore farmers are registered on the platform as well as 1.52 lakh  traders.  A total volume of 4.12 crore metric tonnes for a total value of Rs. 1.22 lakh crore (as on 31.1.2021)

## 19.  Improvement in farm produce logistics, Introduction of Kisan Rail.

- Kisan  Rail  has  been  launched  to  exclusively  cater  to  movement  of  perishable agrihorti commodities. First rail was started in July 2020.  Currently 34 Kisan Rails are being operated by Indian Railways.
20. Creation of a Start-up Eco system in agriculture and allied sector

452 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors have been selected for funding for a sum of Rs. 48.08 crore in instalments and Rs.20.90 crore has been released as a 1st instalment for funding these start-ups. These start-ups were trained for two  months  at  various  agribusiness  incubation  centres  i.e.  Knowledge  Partners (KPs) &RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs).

21. Successful control of Two major Locust Attacks in the country in 2019-20 & 2020-21 by aggressively carrying out control operations including use of drones for locust control.

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