Lok Sabha Question No. 21 (STARRED), answered on 2019-02-05
Subject: Welfare Schemes for Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: DINESH TRIVEDI, (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 21

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## WELFARE SCHEMES FOR FARMERS

- *21.     SHRI DINESH TRIVEDI: ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

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

- (a) whether  the  Economic  Survey  2018  states  that  the  farmers  real  income  has 'remained  stagnant'  (1.9  per  cent  growth  over  four  years)  and  if  so,  the  reaction  of  the Government thereto;
- (b) whether the Government has any welfare schemes for farmers aged more than 60, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government has noted that one of the major causes of low income of the Indian farmers is the difficulty in marketing their crops and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
- (d) whether the productivity per acre is low in all the States and if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to improve the situation?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

(SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

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

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 21  DUE FOR REPLY ON 5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019.

(a):      The  Economic Survey 2017-18 makes no specific mention of stagnation in farmers' real income. It, however, indicates that climate change could impact farm income through increase in average temperatures, decline in average rainfall and increase in the number of dry-days.

Government  is  implementing  a  number  of  schemes  for  promoting  climate  resilient agriculture to cope with the challenges of climate change. The key dimensions for climate change adaptation include promotion of drought and flood tolerant varieties of seeds; better water  use  efficiency;  improved  nutrient  and  pest  management;  improved  farm  practices, agricultural insurance,  credit support,  markets;  access  to  information;  and  livelihood diversification.

- (b):    Yes, Madam. There are various welfare schemes/ programmes being implemented by the  Government  which,  among  others,  cover  people  above  60  years  of  age,  including farmers. These include Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya  Yojana  (PMJAY),  Indira  Gandhi  Old  Age  Pension  Scheme  (IGNOAPS),  Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Integrated Programme of Older Persons (IPOP), Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), etc.
- (c):        Agriculture  marketing is a State subject and the concerned States/Union Territories regulate and facilitate marketing of agriculture produce under their respective regulations. The  Union  Government,  while  taking  note  of  the  deficiencies  in  the  existing marketing facilities in the country and its impact on farmers' income, has released a new model  'The  Agricultural  Produce  and  Livestock  Marketing  (Promotion  &  Facilitation)  Act, 2017' in   April 2017  for  its adoption by States/Union Territories (UTs). The Act provides for Contd…2/-

-2- alternative  marketing  channels  to  facilitate  farmers  in  marketing  their  produce  directly  at competitive & remunerative prices. Furthermore, with a view to optimize the use of scarce resources  and  mitigate  the  uncertainty  in  price  and  marketing,  Union  Government  has formulated  and  released  a  progressive  and  facilitative  Model  Act  'The  ---State/  UT Agricultural Produce & Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018' in May, 2018 for its adoption by the States/Union Territories (UTs). The Model Act covers the entire value and supply chain from pre-production to post harvest marketing including services contract for the agricultural produce and livestock.

In  addition,  Government  has  implemented  National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM) scheme for transparency in price discovery through competitive online bidding system so as to  ensure  remunerative  prices  for  the  farmers  for  their  produce.  So  far,  585  wholesale regulated  markets  of  16  States  and  2  UTs  have  been  integrated  with  e-NAM  platform. Government  has  further  approved  the  integration  of  another  415  wholesale  regulated markets (APMCs/Mandis)  with e-NAM  platform by 2019-20. Moreover, as per the announcement made in the  Union  Budget  2018-19,  Government  has  decided  to  develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs) to work as centers of aggregation and to provide farmers facility to make direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers.

(d) & (e):   The productivity level varies from crop to crop as well as from state to state. In case of cereals, Punjab has the highest yield rate at 4733 kilogram per hectare (kg/ha) in 2017-18 (as per Fourth Advance Estimates). Similarly, in case of Pulses, Himachal Pradesh is estimated to have the highest yield of 1395 kg/ha during 2017-18, and for Oilseeds, Tamil Nadu has the highest yield of 2579 kg/ha. State-wise level of yield (kg/ha) during the last few years is given in the Annexure.

In order to increase the production and productivity of agricultural crops, Government is implementing several Crop Development Schemes/Programmes, including National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Bringing Green Revolution to  Eastern India (BGREI), National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP), National Mission  for  Sustainable  Agriculture  (NMSA),  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchai  Yojana,  Soil Health Card, etc.

## State-wise Yield of Cereals, Pulses and Oilseeds

*******

(Kg/hectare)

| State/UT          | Cereals     | Cereals     | Cereals     | Cereals     | Cereals      | Pulses      | Pulses      | Pulses      | Pulses       | Oilseeds      | Oilseeds     | Oilseeds     | Oilseeds     | Oilseeds     | Oilseeds      |
|-------------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|--------------|---------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|---------------|
| State/UT          | 2013-14 (2) | 2014-15 (3) | 2015-16 (4) | 2016-17 (5) | 2017-18* (6) | 2013-14 (7) | 2014-15 (8) | 2015-16 (9) | 2016-17 (10) | 2017-18* (11) | 2013-14 (12) | 2014-15 (13) | 2015-16 (14) | 2016-17 (15) | 2017-18* (16) |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 3139        | 3269        | 3500        | 3690        | 3995         | 928         | 911         | 848         | 659          | 870           | 929          | 557          | 954          | 581          | 1323          |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1825        | 1924        | 1505        | 1733        | NA           | 1155        | 1263        | 1015        | 1011         | NA            | 958          | 971          | 1040         | 1040         | NA            |
| Assam             | 1989        | 2095        | 2067        | 1922        | 2108         | 695         | 748         | 757         | 735          | 707           | 611          | 670          | 694          | 643          | 670           |
| Bihar             | 2100        | 2067        | 2320        | 2596        | 2677         | 1044        | 859         | 845         | 936          | 884           | 1189         | 1093         | 1059         | 1155         | 1212          |
| Chhattisgarh      | 1717        | 1616        | 1481        | 2055        | 1270         | 573         | 818         | 609         | 858          | 693           | 640          | 599          | 501          | 572          | 461           |
| Goa               | 2953        | 2870        | 2783        | 2774        | NA           | 1102        | 944         | 754         | 1004         | NA            | 2544         | 1899         | 2126         | 2352         | NA            |
| Gujarat           | 2370        | 2226        | 2244        | 2309        | 2419         | 897         | 972         | 931         | 868          | 1018          | 2231         | 1920         | 1627         | 1725         | 2123          |
| Haryana           | 3964        | 3480        | 3713        | 3789        | 3691         | 820         | 674         | 680         | 897          | 979           | 1637         | 1456         | 1589         | 1832         | 2007          |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 1970        | 1925        | 2144        | 2258        | 1910         | 1763        | 1232        | 1504        | 2019         | 1395          | 490          | 542          | 520          | 487          | 520           |
| Jammu & Kashmir   | 1954        | 1298        | 1919        | 1774        | 1761         | 535         | 381         | 631         | 547          | 529           | 895          | 682          | 599          | 523          | 648           |
| Jharkhand         | 2181        | 2135        | 1738        | 2161        | 2268         | 1021        | 1004        | 886         | 1002         | 1065          | 663          | 664          | 681          | 732          | 729           |
| Karnataka         | 2105        | 2206        | 1949        | 1839        | 2028         | 641         | 601         | 403         | 586          | 614           | 824          | 698          | 583          | 623          | 807           |
| Kerala            | 2549        | 2833        | 2787        | 2548        | 2636         | 1108        | 1131        | 1133        | 984          | 934           | 980          | 1054         | 1049         | 125          | 957           |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 2051        | 2398        | 2564        | 2589        | 2650         | 861         | 876         | 903         | 944          | 1084          | 858          | 1093         | 841          | 1177         | 1046          |
| Maharashtra       | 1420        | 1151        | 940         | 1442        | 1591         | 802         | 602         | 436         | 865          | 759           | 1276         | 672          | 579          | 1160         | 1010          |
| Manipur           | 1842        | 1576        | 1526        | 1812        | NA           | 937         | 959         | 963         | 973          | NA            | 840          | 863          | 847          | 858          | NA            |
| Meghalaya         | 2416        | 2601        | 2624        | 1871        | NA           | 1126        | 1405        | 1442        | 1446         | NA            | 1030         | 1071         | 1091         | 1051         | NA            |
| Mizoram           | 1509        | 1626        | 1615        | 1652        | NA           | 1468        | 1416        | 1361        | 1352         | NA            | 1146         | 1117         | 1112         | 1140         | NA            |
| Nagaland          | 2142        | 2188        | 1666        | 1693        | NA           | 1124        | 1146        | 1150        | 1151         | NA            | 1048         | 1048         | 1047         | 1050         | NA            |
| Odisha            | 1820        | 1968        | 1480        | 2141        | 1751         | 537         | 532         | 505         | 548          | 548           | 755          | 667          | 632          | 681          | 619           |
| Punjab            | 4525        | 4078        | 4292        | 4373        | 4733         | 872         | 846         | 965         | 887          | 905           | 1335         | 1265         | 1318         | 1386         | 1467          |
| Rajasthan         | 1671        | 1865        | 1762        | 1804        | 1820         | 593         | 580         | 515         | 604          | 635           | 1144         | 1192         | 1182         | 1351         | 1453          |
| Sikkim            | 1647        | 1649        | 1562        | 1681        | NA           | 925         | 925         | 954         | 961          | NA            | 887          | 891          | 909          | 918          | NA            |
| Tamil Nadu        | 3114        | 3342        | 3810        | 1719        | 3919         | 752         | 852         | 631         | 544          | 635           | 2362         | 2374         | 2290         | 1870         | 2579          |
| Telangana         | 3200        | 3107        | 2863        | 3059        | 3321         | -           | 644         | 508         | 771          | 885           | -            | 1270         | 1102         | 1385         | 1739          |
| Tripura           | 2772        | 2875        | 2897        | 2854        | NA           | 719         | 718         | 673         | 952          | NA            | 759          | 793          | 771          | 814          | NA            |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 2710        | 2152        | 2369        | 2703        | 2793         | 736         | 612         | 619         | 871          | 974           | 810          | 698          | 670          | 876          | 1054          |
| Uttarakhand       | 2083        | 1891        | 2079        | 2230        | 2345         | 869         | 821         | 821         | 869          | 877           | 1070         | 938          | 1100         | 929          | 931           |
| West Bengal       | 2811        | 2773        | 2925        | 2817        | 2995         | 843         | 941         | 967         | 968          | 969           | 1181         | 1161         | 1168         | 1147         | 1198          |
| A & N Islands     | 2033        | 2079        | 2217        | 2572        | NA           | 486         | 541         | 649         | 304          | NA            | NA           | NA           | NA           | NA           | NA            |
| D & N Haveli      | 1771        | 1764        | 2312        | 2173        | NA           | 898         | 897         | 1174        | 2035         | NA            | 667          | 571          | NA           | 366          | NA            |
| Delhi             | 4061        | 3908        | 3654        | 3653        | NA           | 1500        | NA          | 3270        | 2120         | NA            | NA           | NA           | 1260         | 1248         | NA            |
| Daman & Diu       | 1754        | 2621        | 1184        | 1132        | NA           | NA          | NA          | NA          | NA           | NA            | NA           | NA           | NA           | NA           | NA            |
| Puducherry        | 3144        | 3160        | 2698        | 3210        | NA           | 425         | 630         | 241         | 377          | NA            | 1907         | 2280         | 2345         | 2511         | NA            |
| Others            | NA 2462     | NA 2331     | 4600        | 2500 2525   | 2363         | NA          | NA          | NA 655      | NA           | 1236          | NA           | NA           | NA           | NA           | 1064 1270     |
| All India         |             |             | 2393        |             | 2661         | 764         | 728         |             | 786          | 841           | 1168         | 1075         | 968          | 1195         |               |

*4th Advance Estimates., NA: Not Available

Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, DAC&FW