Lok Sabha Question No. 109 (STARRED), answered on 2018-12-18
Subject: Reform in Agricultural Schemes
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: KANWAR SINGH TANWAR

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 109

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## REFORM IN AGRICULTURAL SCHEMES

- *109.     SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

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

- (a) whether despite various ongoing schemes for promotion of agriculture in the country, more than 40 per cent farmers are living below the poverty line;
- (b) if  so,  whether  the  Government has made any study to assess the performance of each of these schemes during the last three years;
- (c) if so, the outcome of such study; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  reform  such  schemes  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 109    DUE FOR REPLY ON 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2018.

- (a): As  per  the  erstwhile  Planning  Commission's  estimates  based  on  Nation  Sample Survey  Office(NSSO)  Survey,  in  2011-12  the  rural  population  living  below  poverty  line (BPL)  was  25.7  percent,  including  both  farm  and  non-farm  rural  population.  Separate estimate on the number of farmers living Below Poverty Line is not available.

(b) to (d): The  major  schemes  are  regularly  monitored  and  evaluated  from  time  to time through independent agencies/institutes and revamped on the basis of the feedback.

The outcomes of performance evaluation of the major schemes are as follows:

- (i) Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture(MIDH): Substantial increase in area under horticultural crops and Gross value of Output (GVO) was observed.
- (ii) National  Mission  for  Sustainable  Agriculture(NMSA):    The  Scheme  was  found highly  relevant for the development of rainfed areas and helped the farmers in maximizing  the  farm  returns;  mitigating  the  impacts  of  drought,  flood,  and minimizing risks of crop failure; impacted increase of income by 39%.
- (iii) Interest  Subvention  Scheme: The scheme had positive impacts on the rate of growth of ground level credit to agriculture and increase in use of crucial inputs; and helped increase yield and production of major crops.
- (iv) Soil  Health  Card(SHC):  The  card  provides  information  on  fertility  status  of  soil and a soil test  based advisory on use of fertilizers. Application  of fertilizer  and micronutrients based on Soil health Card Recommendations resulted in 8-10% savings in fertilizer. Besides, overall increase in the yield of crops was to the tune of 5-6%.

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- (v) National  Food  Security  Mission  (NFSM  Crops  and  Pulses):  The  mission  has helped  in  widening  the  food  basket  in  the  country  with  sizeable  contribution coming from the NFSM Districts. The focused and target oriented implementation of mission initiatives has resulted in bumper production of rice, wheat and pulses.
- (vi) Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (RKVY):  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (RKVY) has  led  to  increase  in  Gross  Capital  Formation;  better  implementation  due  to performance-linked  eligibility  for  funds  and  fund  use  flexibility  across  time  and states.  The  suggestions  for  improvement  were  related  to  ensuring  better  interstate allocation by using up-dated data; replacing certain fund eligibility parameters  by  state  level  performance  related  indicators,  focus  on  end-to-end projects while planning; and initiating innovative projects without duplication.
- (vii) Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana  (PMKSY):  Per  Drop  More  Crop  mainly focuses  on  water  use  efficiency  at  farm  level  through  precision/micro  irrigation (Drip  and  Sprikler  Irrigation).  An  impact  evaluation  study  for  Micro  Irrigation,  a component of PMKSY, indicated overall income enhancement of the beneficiaries in the range of 20% to 68% with average of 48.5%.
- (viii) Venture Capital Assistance and Equity Grant & Credit Guarantee  Fund: Evaluation  of  the  sub-scheme  of  Integrated  Scheme  of  Agricultural  Marketing (ISAM)  shows  that  it  has  incentivized  the  agri-entrepreneurs  to  bring  in  more equity and set up agri-business units.
- (ix) Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY):  The  scheme  is  an  outcome  of elaborate  restructuring  and  subsuming  National  Agricultural  Insurance  Scheme and  other  components  of  National  Agricultural  Insurance  Programmes  on  the basis of implementational experience. Larger coverage of beneficiaries and crops

with minimum premium are the important features of the restructured scheme. A performance  evaluation  study  by  Centre  for  Management  of  Agriculture,  IIM Ahmedabad,  commissioned  by  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Farmers  Welfare, reveals  that  in  the  initial  two  years  of  implementation  it  has  taken  care  of systemic risks associated with widespread  vagaries  of weather. No  crop insurance scheme previously has offered such a comprehensive risk protection to the farmers in the country.

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