Lok Sabha Question No. 2582 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Development in Agricultural Sector
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: N.K. Premachandran

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

## LOK  SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2582 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH  JULY, 2019

## DEVELOPMENT IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

## 2582. SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN:

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

- (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that the quality of life of farmers is  not  satisfactory,  if  so,  the  details  of  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  for  ensuring quality of life of farmers;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to introduce science based natural resources and sustainable production and development in agricultural sector and if so, the action taken by the Government thereon;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to introduce national soil health card system and if so, the details of action taken by the Government thereon;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  regarding  the  market  reforms required for the development of agricultural sector, if so, the details thereof and if not, the action taken by the Government thereon; and
- (e) whether the Government proposes to introduce a policy for procurement and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

- (a): Agriculture being a State subject, the State Governments undertake development of perspective plans and ensure effective implementation of the programmes/schemes. Also Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  State  Governments  through  various Schemes/Programmes.  The  Government  has  been  reorienting  the  agriculture  sector  by focusing on an income-centric approach as against the earlier production centric policy. This focuses on achieving high productivity, reduced cost of cultivation and remunerative price on the  produce,  with  a  view  to  earning  higher  profits  for  the  farmers.  A  list  of  various interventions taken by the Government at Annexure-I.

(b): ICAR  has  developed water conservation strategies including micro irrigation, cropping system suitable for the various agro climatic zones, System of Rice Intensification (SRI),  Direct  seeded  rice  DSR),  Crop  Diversification,  laser  leveling  etc.  all  of  which  are baeing supported by programmatic intervention of DAC&FW including Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sinchai  Yojana  (PMKSY)  -  Per  Drop  More  Crop  (PDMC),  Soil  Health  Card  (SHC), assistance of resource conservation strategies/tools under National Food Security Mission (NFS), Crop Diversification Program under RKVY, Integrated Farming System (IFM) under Rainfed Area Development (RAD), Organic Farming, Centers of Excellence under Mission for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH)  etc.  Development  of  climatic  resilient varieties has enabled record production of cereals, pulses and horticulture produces in the face of climate change. National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) has developed climatic resilient villages in each of 151 identified districts.

A  Central  Sector  Scheme  entitled  'Mission  Organic  Value  Chain  Development  for North  Eastern  Region'  (MOVCDNEAR)  is  implemented  for  organic  farming  in  the  North Eastern  Region  of  the  country.  The  scheme  aims  at  development  of  certified  organic production  in  a  value  chain  mode  to  link  growers  with  consumers  and  to  support  the development of entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, certification and creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing, marketing and brand building initiative.

(c): Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme is being implemented since 2015 to assist all State Governments to evaluate soil fertility against 12 parameters across the country and issue soil  health  card  to  farmers  regularly  in  a  cycle  of  2  years.  Soil  Health  Card  provides information  to  farmers  on  nutrient  status  of  their  soil  along  with  recommendations  on appropriate dosage of nutrients to be applied for improving soil health and its fertility. Soil sampling is done in 2.5 ha. grids in irrigated areas and 10 ha grids in rainfed areas. The scheme has been successful in judicious use of fertilizers.

10.73 crore Soil Health Card (SHC) in Cycle-I from 2015-17 and 9.82crore SHCs in Cycle - II from 2017-19 have been distributed to farmers.

(d): The Union Government has been advocating progressive agri market reforms which include:

'The Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2017, which provides for progressive agricultural marketing reforms, including setting up markets in  private  sector,  direct  marketing,  farmer-consumer  markets,  de-regulation  of  fruits  and vegetables, declaring warehouses/silos/cold storage as market sub-yards and Market Yards of National importance (MNI) etc. so that more markets are available for farmers to sell their produce for better prices.

The State/Union Territory 'Agricultural Produce and livestock, Contract Farming and Services  (Promotion  &  Facilitation)  Act,  2018'  circulated  by  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and Farmers Welfare, Government of India to States/UTs.

Government is implementing National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme wherein online  trading  of  agriculture  commodities  is  carried  out  in  transparent  and  competitive manner  helping  the  farmers  with  better  price  discovery  for  their  produce,  So  far,  585 wholesale regulated markets across the country have been integrated with e-NAM platform.

(e): Giving a major boost to the pro-farmer initiatives, the Government had approved a new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)' in the year 2018. 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.

The new Umbrella Scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative prices to  the  farmers  and  is comprised three components namely Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price  Deficiency  Payment  Scheme  (PDPS)  and  Pilot  of  Private  Procurement  &  Stockist Scheme (PPPS).

Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2582 due for 09.07.2019.

Statement in respect of Part (a) of the Question regarding 'Development in Agricultural Sector'

The strategy of the Government is to focus on farmers' welfare by making farming viable. Most of the schemes of Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare focus on directly benefitting farmers through various interventions and schemes such as:-

- (i)      Implementation of flagship scheme of distribution of Soil Health Cards to farmers so that the use of fertilizers can be optimized.
- (ii) 'Per drop more crop' initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged for optimal utilization of water.
- (iii) 'Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)'  under  which  organic  farming  is  being promoted.
- (iv) Initiating market reforms through the State Governments.
- (v) Encouraging  contract  farming  through  the  State  Governments  by  promulgating  of Model Contract Farming Act.
- (vi) Up-gradation  of  Gramin  Haats  to  work  as  centers  of  aggregation  and  for  direct purchase of agricultural commodities from the farmers.
- (vii) Launch of e-NAM initiative to provide farmers an electronic online trading platform.
- (viii)    With  a  view  to  provide  better  insurance  coverage  to  crops  for  risk  mitigation, Government has launched a crop insurance scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY) from  Kharif  2016  season.  This  scheme  provides  insurance cover  for  all  stages  of  the  crop  cycle  including  post-harvest  risks  in  specified instances.
- (ix)     Under 'Har Medh Par Ped', agro forestry is being promoted.  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 with emphasis on value addition and product development.
- (x) Giving  a  major  boost  for  the  farmers  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.
- (xi) 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.
- (xii) 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.

- (xiii) Rashtriya Gokul Mission to enhance milk production and productivity of bovines and to make milk production more remunerative to the farmers.
- (xiv) National  Livestock  Mission  to  increase  productivity  and  genetic  improvement  of livestock.
- (xv)     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.
- (xvi)    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  total  interest subvention up to 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.
- (xvii) 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.
- (xviii)  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.
- (xix) Government sets annual target for the flow of credit to the agriculture sector, 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.
- (xx) 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.    About  14.5  crore  farmers  are  expected  to  be covered under the Scheme.
- (xx)    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  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. The scheme aims to cover around 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years. It would be a voluntary and contributory pension scheme,  with  entry  age  of  18  to  40  years.  The  Government  has  approved  a budgetary provision of Rs. 10774.50 crore for the scheme till March, 2022.

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