Lok Sabha Question No. 3743 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-17
Subject: Orange Cultivation
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Ganesan Selvam, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3743

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 17 TH  MARCH, 2020

## ORANGE CULTIVATION

3743.      SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

DR. HEENA GAVIT:

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE :

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

- (a) the total  acreage of land  under the orange cultivation and the States that are involved therein;
- (b) whether the Government is aware that the orange growers are facing problems due to receding ground water level in the country including Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the orange growers have urged for digging of community water tanks for storage of runoff water, if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (d) whether  the  Government  is  extending  any  help  to  the  farmers  in  getting  remunerative prices for their produce and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government of Maharashtra has sent a proposal for increasing post-harvest management and marketing subsidy amount and the budget for community water tanks, and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Union Government thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a): As  per  Final  Estimates  2018-19,  total  acreage  of  land  under  Orange  (Mandarin Orange/Kinnow) in the country is 4.69 Lakh Hectare. Major states involved in Orange production are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
- (b): Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur, has intimated that the Orange growers of Maharashtra are facing problems of water shortage and ground water levels are going down, in districts of Amrawati, Nagpur, Latur, Jalna, Osmanabad, Parbani and Aurangabad.

Government of Maharashtra has intimated that in Nagpur division, an area of 8644.73 Hectare was affected in last summer season due to shortage of water.

(c): Under Mission for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  100%  assistance  is provided  for  digging  Community  Tanks  with  lining.  Government  of  Maharashtra  has  reported that 353 community tanks were dugout under from 2014-15 to 2018-19.

(d): Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme, farmers are mobilised into Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) for aggregation and economies of scale. Efforts  are  being  made  to  link  FPOs  to  market  by  way  of  direct  marketing  farmer  consumer markets/Apni  Mandi  and  e-markets.    Assistance  is  also  provided  for  development  of  Post Harvest Management and Marketing infrastructure such as Cold Storages, Cold Room, Packing and  Grading  House,  Reefer  vehicles,  Primary  and  Wholesale  Markets,  Kisan  Mandis,  etc. Farmers  are  also  made  aware  of  the  processing  facilities/mega  food  parks  nearby  and processable varieties of Horticulture Crops.

Besides, Government is promoting scientific storage facilities in rural areas of the country through the scheme of 'Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)', which is a demand driven with  back  ended  credit  linked  subsidy  scheme,  under  which  assistance  is  available  to individuals, Group of farmers/growers, Registered Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) etc.

Further, to provide better marketing facilities for farmers, the Government is implementing National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme for transparent price discovery for remunerative prices for the farmers for their produce through competitive online bidding system. So far, 585 wholesale regulated markets of 16 States and 02 UTs have been integrated with eNAM platform.

(e): Mission for integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) was approved for continuation upto 31.03.2021, co-terminus with 14 th Finance Commission periods. Hence, the existing rates of assistance under various components of MIDH including Post Harvest Management (PHM), Marketing and Community Tanks would continue upto 31.03.2021.

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