Lok Sabha Question No. 1609 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-20
Subject: Increasing Farmers Income
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Pushpendra Singh Chandel

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1609

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 20 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## INCREASING FARMERS' INCOME

1609       SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

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

- (a) details of the efforts made by the Government to increase the income of the farmers of the country including Bundelkhand during the last three years;
- (b) whether the farmers engaged in traditional farming of traditional crops such as rice, wheat etc. have started farming of cash crops and their income has also increased through the schemes of the Government;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any special measures to promote the farming of dates in droughtprone areas and dry weather areas; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

(a): The Government constituted an Inter-ministerial Committee in April, 2016 to examine issues relating to 'Doubling of Farmers Income' and recommend strategies to achieve the same.  The  Committee  submitted  its  Report  to  the  Government  in  September,  2018 containing the strategy for doubling of farmers' income by the year 2022.The DFI strategy as recommended  by  the  Committee  include  seven sources of  income  growth viz., (i) improvement in crop productivity; (ii) improvement in livestock productivity; (iii) resource use efficiency  or  savings  in  the  cost  of  production;  (iv)  increase  in  the  cropping  intensity;  (v) diversification towards high value crops; (vi) improvement in real prices received by farmers; and  (vii)  shift  from  farm  to  non-farm  occupations.  After  acceptance  of  the  DFI  Committee recommendations,  the  Government  has  constituted  an  'Empowered  Body'  to  review  and monitor the progress.

Agriculture being a State subject, the State Governments undertake implementation of programs/schemes for the development of the sector. Government of India supplements the efforts  of  the  State  Governments  through  various  schemes/  programs.  These  schemes/ programs  of  the  Government  of  India  are  meant  for  the  welfare  of  farmers  by  increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers. A list of initiatives taken by the  Government  are  at Annexure .  All  these  steps  of  the  Government  of  India  are  for  the welfare of the farmers of the country including Bundelkhand.

(b) & (c): The Department  of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare is implementing RKVY scheme in the States which provides  flexibility to the States for preparing projects for the  promotion  of  more  beneficial  crops.  These  projects  are  approved  by  the  State  Level Sanctioning  Committee  under  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Chief  Secretary  of  the  State.  In addition DAC&FW provides support for the promotion of Commercial Crops like Sugarcane, Cotton, and Jute etc.  under NFSM scheme and Horticulture Crops under MIDH to enhance the income of the farmers. Besides a crop diversification programme,  as a sub-scheme of RKVY, is being implemented in the States of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh to replace Paddy with alternative crops like Oil Seeds, Pulses, Cotton and Maize etc.

(d) & (e): The Government has taken following measures to promote the farming of dates in drought prone area and dry weather area:

(i)         Under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture,  assistance is provided for establishment of Tissue Culture Lab @ 40% of cost to private sector and 100% of total cost  to  public  sector  (cost  norms  Rs.250.00  lakh/unit)  for  multiplication  of  Tissue  Culture Plant of Date palm.

(ii)         National  Horticulture  Board  provides assistance for Date palm cultivation under the component of Development of Commercial Horticulture on demand driven basis.

(iii)       Central Institute for Arid Horticulture (CIAH) under ICAR encourages planting of date palm  in  dry  parts  of  the  country  where  irrigation  facilities  are  available  for  successful cultivation  of  date  palm  and  impart  training  to  farmers  on  production  technologies  of  date palm,  pollination  and  packaging  etc.  in  selected  districts  of  Rajasthan,  Gujarat,  Punjab, Haryana and Tamil Nadu.

## 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) Several market reforms have been rolled out. These include

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

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