Lok Sabha Question No. 1520 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-20
Subject: Industry Status to Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jayadev Galla

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1520

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 20 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## INDUSTRY STATUS TO AGRICULTURE

1520.      SHRI JAYADEV GALLA:

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

- (a) whether it is not true that agriculture plays a vital role in the economic development of the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  it  is  also  not  true  that  there  have  been  genuine  demands  to  grant  'industry' status to agriculture to push it further in all respects;
- (c) the details of each of the benefits being given to industry during the last ten years;
- (d) the details of each of the benefits being given to agriculture during the last ten years; and
- (e) whether  there  are  any  constraints  that  the  Government  is  facing  in  granting  'industry' status to agriculture?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

- (a): Agriculture  plays  a  vital  role  in  the  economic  development  of  the  country  as  it  ensures food and nutritional security to the people and provides livelihood and employment opportunities for the majority of population. Besides, it supplies raw material to non-agricultural sectors.

Given the importance of agriculture sector, the Government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation for the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to Rs. 142762.35 crore (BE) during BE 2020-21.

- (b) to (e): Government  has  been  receiving  suggestions  from  various  quarters  to  accord industry  status  to  the  agriculture  sector.    However,  Government  seeks  to  bestow  on  the agriculture sector as many benefits as available to those in the manufacturing sector, such as, easy availability of credit and other inputs and creation of infrastructure facilities for development of agriculture sector, including marketing and post- harvest management.

Details  of  various  interventions/initiatives  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  benefit  of farmers during the last few years are given in the Annexure.

## List of various Interventions and schemes Launched for the Benefit of Farmers

(i)   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  aims  to  provide  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.

(ii)   Further with a view to provide social security net for Small and Marginal Farmers (SMF) as they have minimal or  no  savings  to  provide  for  old  age  and  to  support  them  in  the  event  of  consequent  loss  of livelihood, the Government has decided to implement another new Central Sector Scheme i.e. Pradhan Mantri Kisan MaanDhan Yojana (PM-KMY) for providing old age pension to these farmers. Under this Scheme,  a  minimum  fixed  pension  of  Rs.  3000/-  will  be  provided  to  the  eligible  small  and  marginal farmers, subject to certain exclusion clauses, on attaining the age of 60 years.

(iii)    With  a  view  to  provide  better  insurance  coverage  to  crops  for  risk  mitigation,  a  crop  insurance scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched from Kharif 2016 season. This  scheme  provides  insurance  cover  for  all  stages  of  the  crop  cycle  including  post-harvest  risks  in specified instances, with low premium contribution by farmers.

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

(v)   Implementation of flagship scheme of distribution of Soil Health Cards to farmers so that the use of fertilizers can be rationalized.

(vi)  'Per drop more crop' initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged for optimal utilization of water, reducing cost of inputs and increasing productivity.

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

(viii)    Launch  of  e-NAM  initiative  to  provide  farmers  an  electronic  transparent  and  competitive  online trading platform.

(ix)      Under  'Har  Medh  Par  Ped',  agro  forestry  is  being  promoted  for  additional  income.    With  the amendment  of  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927,  Bamboo  has  been  removed  from  the  definition  of  trees.  A restructured  National  Bamboo  Mission  has  been  launched  in  the  year  2018  to  promote  bamboo plantation on non forest government as well as  private land and emphasis on value addition, product development and  markets.

(x)    Giving  a  major  boost  to  the  pro-farmer  initiatives,  the  Government  has  approved  a  new  Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PMAASHA)'.  The Scheme is aimed at ensuring  remunerative  prices  to  the  farmers  for  their  produce  as  announced  in  the  Union  Budget  for 2018.  This  is  an  unprecedented  step  taken  by  Govt.  of  India  to  protect  the  farmers'  income  which  is expected to go a long way towards the welfare of farmers.

(xi)  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.

(xii)    To  ensure  flow  of  adequate  credit,  Government  sets  annual  target  for  the  flow  of  credit  to  the agriculture sector, Banks have been consistently surpassing the annual target. The agriculture credit flow target has been set at Rs. 13.50 lakh crore for the F.Y.2019-20 and Rs.15.00 lakh crore for F.Y. 2020-21.

(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 of 2% on short-term crop loans up to Rs.3.00 lakh. Presently, loan is available to farmers at an interest rate of 4% per annum on prompt repayment.

(xiv)    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.

(xv)  The  Government  has  extended  the  facility  of  Kisan  Credit  Card  (KCC)  to  the  farmers  practicing animal husbandry and fisheries related activities. All processing fee, inspection, ledger folio charges and all  other  services charges have been waived off for fresh renewal of KCC. Collateral fee loan limit for short term agri-credit has been raised from Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.1.60 lakh.  KCC will be issued within 14 days from the receipt of completed application.

(xvi)  Various agricultural marketing reforms have been rolled out as follows:

- a. Model APLMC (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2017
- b. Establishment of 22,000 number of Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs) as aggregation platforms
- c. Agri-Export Policy, that targets to double agri-exports by 2022
- d. The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020
- e. The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020
- f. Amendments to Essential Commodities Act, 1955, that deregulates various agri-commodities
- g. Promotion of 10,000 FPOs by 2024

(xvii)   Creation of Corpus Funds

- a. Micro Irrigation Fund - Rs. 5,000 crore
- b. Agri-marketing Fund to strengthen eNAM and GrAMs - Rs. 2,000 crore
- c. Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) to build agri-logistics (backward & forward linkages) - Rs. 1 lakh crore

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