Lok Sabha Question No. 1713 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-02
Subject: Promotion of Agriculture
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.1713

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 2 ND   JULY, 2019

## PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE

1713.   SHRI BENNY BEHANAN:

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

- (a) whether any new schemes are being introduced in order to provide subsidized essential tools in agriculture in Kerala, if so, the details thereof
- (b) the    details    of    the    agricultural  classes    and    campaigns    conducted  by    the Government in Kerala every year;
- (c) whether the Government has  set up new projects to promote agriculture in Kerala; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

- (a): Agricultural tools and machinery are essential inputs for modern agriculture. It enhances productivity besides reducing human drudgery and cost of cultivation. It also helps in improving utilization efficiency of other inputs.

Taking into consideration the above, Department Of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers welfare  (DAC&FW)  has  introduced  a  dedicated  Sub  Mission  on  Agricultural  Mechanization (SMAM) w.e.f. 2014-15 for entire country including Kerala, under which financial assistance is provided  for  various  types  of  Agricultural  tools,  implements  and  machinery  used  for  tillage, sowing, planting,  harvesting,  reaping,  threshing,  plant  protection,  inter  cultivation  and  residue management.

The farm mechanization component is also available under various schemes like Mission for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  National  Food  Security  Mission  (NFSM), National  Mission  on  Oilseeds  and  Oil  Palm  (NMOOP)  and  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana (RKVY).

The  details  of  State-wise  funds  released  under  SMAM,  MIDH,  NFSM  and  NMOOP  to Kerala Government is enclosed as an Annexure-I.

The details of State-wise number  of agricultural mechanization related projects sanctioned and cost of the projects under RKVY is enclosed at Annexure II.

Kerala Government has also introduced Agro Service Centre and Service Delivery and Karshika Karmasena.  Through Agro Service Centres at block level and Karshika Karma Sena at Panchayath level provision is given for supply of essential tools, agricultural implements and machinery to farmers groups for hiring out service requested from grass root level farmers.

## (b): As per the information received from Government of Kerala

(i) 79  Practical  training  Classes  of  15  days  duration  were  conducted  through  Agro  Service Centres  at  Block  level  in  the  field  of  operation,  maintenance  and  upkeep  of  all  relevant agricultural machinery such as tractor, power tiller, transplanter, reaper, combine harvester, etc during the year 2013 to 2018 .

(ii) 200 Practical training Classes of 15 days duration were conducted through Karshika Karma Sena  at  Grama  Panchayath  level  in  the  field  of  operation,  maintenance  and  upkeep  of  all relevant agricultural machinery such as tractor, power tiller, transplanter, reaper, etc during the year 2015 to 2018.

(iii) Capacity building programmes on advanced technologies in Agriculture sector such as Post Harvest Technology, Bio fertilizer, integrated pest management, scientific crop cultivation, post harvest management, agro processing, value addition, organic farming, hi-tech agriculture, farm mechanization and marketing is imparted to officers and farmers through eight regional training centres and one state level training institute i.e. SAMETI (State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute) of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala during the year 2018.  Total 3821 and 7174 officers and farmers respectively were trained at these training centers.

(c) & (d): The details of the new projects included in the Annual Plan for the year 2016-17 to 2018-19, as received from the State Government are given as  Annexure III:

State-wise and year wise fund released to Kerala State in various scheme of DAC&FW for mechanization component during last three years.

| Year   | Name of the Scheme(Rs.in crore)   | Name of the Scheme(Rs.in crore)   | Name of the Scheme(Rs.in crore)   | Name of the Scheme(Rs.in crore)   | Name of the Scheme(Rs.in crore)   |
|--------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Year   | SMAM                              | NFSM                              | MIDH                              | NMOOP                             | TOTAL                             |
| 1.0    | 0.129                             | 6.01                              | -                                 | 7.139                             | 2016-17                           |
| 9.79   | 0.128                             | 3.70                              | -                                 | 13.618                            | 2017-18                           |
| 10.37  | 0.031                             | 3.86                              | -                                 | 14.261                            | 2018-19                           |
| 21.16  | 0.288                             | 13.57                             | -                                 | 35.08                             | TOTAL                             |

NFSM : National Food Security Mission

SMAM : Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization

MIDH :Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture

NMOOP : National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm

RKVY : Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

| Annexure : II Total No. projects sanctioned and Cost of Projects in AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION under RKVY DURING (2014-15 to 2017-18) (Rs.in crore)   | Annexure : II Total No. projects sanctioned and Cost of Projects in AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION under RKVY DURING (2014-15 to 2017-18) (Rs.in crore)   |   Annexure : II Total No. projects sanctioned and Cost of Projects in AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION under RKVY DURING (2014-15 to 2017-18) (Rs.in crore) |   Annexure : II Total No. projects sanctioned and Cost of Projects in AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION under RKVY DURING (2014-15 to 2017-18) (Rs.in crore) |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| KERALA                                                                                                                                               | 2014-15                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                    1 |                                                                                                                                                 4    |
| KERALA                                                                                                                                               | 2016-17                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                    1 |                                                                                                                                                 3    |
| KERALA                                                                                                                                               | 2017-18                                                                                                                                              |                                                                                                                                                    1 |                                                                                                                                                 6.19 |

Annexure: III

- (a) The details of the new projects included in the Annual Plan for the year 2016 -17 are given below:
- (1) VAIGA-  Value  addition  for  Income  generation  in  Agriculture  exhibition  cum  business sessions of entrepreneurs involved in agro processing and value addition
- (b) The details of the new projects included in the Annual Plan for the year 2017-18 are given below:
- (1)  Biodiversity  and  local  germplasm  collection  -20  Metric  tons  of  seeds  of  local  paddy varieties collected through Kerala State Seed Development Authority.
- (2) Seed bank set up in association with Kerala Agricultural University.
- (3)  Development  of  fruits,  flowers  and  medicinal  plants  -  Support  for  development  of indigenous varieties, export-oriented banana, formation of floriculture units
- (4)  Special  Agricultural  Zone  -15  Special  Agriculture  Zones  (based  on  5  crops,  viz.  Rice, Coconut, vegetables, banana, Flowers) & Tribal agriculture identified. DPR prepared for each  zone.  Area  expansion,  infrastructure  development,  processing  and  marketing facilities initiated.
- (c)  The  details  of  the  new  projects  included  in  the  Annual Plan  for  the  year  2018-19 are   given below :
- i. (1) Kuttanad  GAP  (Good  Agricultural  practices) bio control of weeds,  ecological engineering, adoption of GAP practices for paddy,
- (2) GI certification obtained for products viz. Edayur Mulaku and Marayoor sarkara.
- (3) Mobile app portals for e-marketing,
- (4) Hon.Minister of Agriculture monthly phone in programme with farmers
- (5)Formation  of  Kerala  State  Agricultural  Mechanisation  Mission  -  apex  body  for coordination of agro service centres, karshika karma senas
- (6) Establishment of Agro machinery service centres.
- (7) Formation of Quality control enforcement wing
- (8) Karshaka Mithras' for marketing of homestead produce as a pilot project in Thrissur
- ii. Development of  Agriculture  sector  in  Kuttanad -  This  scheme  is  proposed  for  the Integrated    development  of  Kuttanad  area.    An  amount  of  Rs.  2000  Lakhs  is earmarked for the development of Agriculture sector in Kuttanad.  The main objective of  the  scheme  is  to  provide  sufficient  infrastructure  and  also  for  risk  management factors.    The  main  component  proposed  is  the  risk  management  package  for mitigation of problems of Kuttanad wet land ecosystem which could be utilized for

- managing the risk associated with the changes /modifications in the cropping/farming system.  It is also proposed for establishment of vertical axial flow pumps/submersible pumpsets  for dewatering, replacing the conventional Petti and  Para  including construction of raised platform for installation.
- iii. Arecanut Package - Arecanut is one of the major plantation crops of Kerala, especially in northern districts.  Arecanut sector is showing a declining trend both in terms of area and production.  This is mainly due to incidence of diseases like Mahali (fruit rof)  nonavailability  of  good  planting  materials,  etc.      During  2019-20,  an  amount  of  Rs.  200 lakhs is set apart for the development of Arecanut sector, for area expansion, plant protection and other management practices.
- iv. Rehabilitation  and  Rejuvenation  of  Coconut  palms  in  Kerala  as  part  of  Coconut Development Council Coconut is a traditional as well as major crops of Kerala.  But the  productivity  of  Coconut  palms  is  low  in  Kerala  when  compared  to  neighboring states.    In  order  to  bring  visible  changes  in  the  present  scenario,  Government  of Kerala  has  constituted  the  Coconut  Development  Council  with  the  objective  of expanding  area  and  improving  production  and  productivity  of  Coconut  and  overall upliftment of this sector.  The council activities are planned with a 10 year vision from 2018-2028. In the Ist step  an amount of Rs. 19 crores is set apart for this component under the scheme Coconut Development 2019-20.  The basic activities proposed to be  under  taken  is  production  and  supply  of  good  quality  seedlings,  replanting  and under planting existing coconut plantations with these seedlings which will go a long way in improving production and productivity of coconut in the state.
- v. Officer Automation and IT Infrastructure This scheme aims to implement e-office in Agriculture Department, an integrated solution for the organisational effectiveness by improving productivity, quality, resource management, turn-around time and increase transparency by replacing the old manual process with an electronic file system.
- vi. Post harvest Management and value addition It has a very crucial road in improving the Kerala eonomy  and the income of farmers from Agriculture sector.   Establishment of  cold  chain  facilities  is  an  extended  requirement  for  value  addition  and  export  of Agricultural commodities.  It is proposed to conduct a study for establishment of cold chain facilities in the State.  In order to attract youth in agriculture  sector, it is decided to  give  incentives  for  startup  projects  in  agriculture  sector  and  for  Agri  business incubation.

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