Lok Sabha Question No. 4966 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-23
Subject: Transportation Facility for Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jayanta Kumar Roy

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4966

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD  JULY, 2019

## TRANSPORTATION FACILITY FOR FARMERS

4966.  DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

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

- (a) the steps taken by the Government to tackle the issue of transportation in rural areas including North Bengal for the farmers to carry their produce to the main markets to get the best price for their output;
- (b) the details of alternatives the Government is looking forward to so that the farmers can carry their produce easily to the main markets for higher profits; and
- (c) whether the Government proposes to take any steps for doubling the income of the farmers  across  the  country  including  Jalpaiguri  and  North  Bengal  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

- (a): Government of West Bengal has informed that they have been promoting construction  of  different  type  of  roads  connecting  different  markets  with  producing  farms under  'construction  of  farm  to  market  link  road'.  It  has  been  further  informed  that,  22 Regulated Market Committees of the State are also utilising their own funds for construction of different connecting roads to markets. From 2015-16 to 2018-19, 311 numbers of  market link roads of 622 KM length have been constructed with allocation of Rs. 12770.00 lakh.

Subsidy @ Rs. 10,000/- is provided to the beneficiaries for buying manually driven Van Rikshaws that help the farmers to carry their agricultural produce from farm to  market to get remunerative price. As reported, total 31215 number of beneficiaries have received the subsidy from Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and State fund in last three years (from 2015-16 to 2018-19).

- (b): There  are  various  government  schemes  under  which  assisatance  is  available  for transportation  facilities  to  help  farmers  carry  their  produce  easily  ot  markets.  Some  of  the schemes under which assistance is available are as under :

(i)  Under Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), sub scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural  Marketing  (ISAM),  mobile  infrastructure  for  post-harvest  operations  including grading, packaging, quality testing, reefer vans etc. are permissible for assistance.

(ii)  Under  AMI  scheme,  Refrigerated  van  as  a  transportation  vehicle  is  eligible  for  subsidy assistance for Integrated Value Chain (IVC) projects.

(iii) Subsidy  for refer van  is available under  the scheme  of  Mission  for  Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).

(c): The Government is taking several measures for doubling the income of the farmers across  the  country  including  Jalpaiguri  and  North  Bengal  for  which  some  of  the  major programmes  are as under:

(i) Distribution  of  Soil  Health  Cards  to  farmers  so  that  the  use  of  fertilizers  can  be optimized.

(ii) Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayi  Yojana  (PMKSY)  -  Per  drop  more  crop  (PDMC) initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being   encouraged,  for  optimal  utilization  of water, reducing cost of inputs and increasing productivity.

(iii) 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)' for promoting organic farming.

(iv)     Crop Insurance Scheme of ' Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) ' for providing insurance cover for all stages of the crop cycle including postharvest risks in specified instances, with low premium contribution by farmers for risk mitigation.

- (v) Under 'Har Medh Par Ped', agro forestry is being promoted for additional income.

(vi) Giving  a  major  boost  for  the  farmers'  income,  the  Government  has  approved  the increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all major Kharif & Rabi crops for 2018-19 season at a   level of at least 150 percent of the cost of production.

(vii) Launch of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) initiative to provide farmers with  an electronic trading platform for facilitating online transparent and competitive bidding system for better price discovery by farmers for their produce.

(viii)   Giving a major boost to the pro-farmer initiatives, the Government has approved a new Umbrella Scheme  'Pradhan Mantri Annadata  Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)' aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce as  announced  in  the Union Budget for 2018.

(ix) Bee  keeping  has  been  promoted  under  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of Horticulture   (MIDH)  to  increase  the  productivity  of  crops  through  pollination  and  increase the honey production as an additional source of income of farmers.

(x) Rashtriya Gokul Mission to enhance milk production and productivity of bovines and to make milk production more remunerative to the farmers.

(xi) National  Livestock  Mission  to  increase  productivity  and  genetic  improvement  of livestock.

(xii)     Foreseeing high potential in fisheries sector, a Blue Revolution with multi dimensional activities mainly focusing on fisheries production, both inland and marine is being implemented.

(xiii)    Extending the reach of institutional credit to more and more farmers is priority area of the Government and to achieve this goal, the Government provides interest subvention @ 3% on short-term crop loans up to Rs.3.00 lakh. Presently, loan is available to farmers at an interest rate of 7% per annum, which gets reduced to 4% on prompt repayment.

(xiv)   Government sets annual target for the flow of credit to the agriculture sector and Banks have  been  consistently  surpassing  the  annual  target.  The  current  year's  agriculture  credit flow target has been set at Rs. 13.50 lakh crore.

(xv)     Further, under Interest Subvention Scheme 2018-19, in order to provide relief to the farmers on occurrence of natural calamities, the interest subvention of 2% shall continue to be available to  banks for the first  year  on  the  restructured  amount.  In  order  to  discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to store their produce in warehouses against negotiable receipts, the benefit of interest subvention  will be available to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further   period of upto six months post harvest on the same rate as available to crop loan.

(xvi) The Government has approved for giving the facility of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to the farmers practicing animal husbandry and fisheries related activities and has also  decided to extend the Interest Subvention Facilities to such categories of farmers.

(xvii) With a view to provide income support to all farmers' families across the country, to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs, the Central Government started a new Central Sector Scheme,  namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The scheme provides for a payment of Rs.  6000/-  per  year,  in  three  4-monthly  installments  of  Rs.  2000/-  to  the  farmers  families, subject to certain exclusions relating to higher income groups.

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