Lok Sabha Question No. 498 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-06-25
Subject: Doubling of 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. 498

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 25 TH  JUNE, 2019

## DOUBLING OF FARMERS' INCOME

498.     SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

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

- (a) the details of steps taken by the Government to increase the income of farmers of the country including Bundelkhand;
- (b) whether the Government is contemplating to give financial assistance to cattlemen for a fixed time as per the number of animals being reared by them;
- (c) whether the Government has received such proposals from State Governments;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  chalked  out  any  special  scheme  for  cattlemen  of Bundelkhand; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

(a): In order to increase the income of farmers of the country including Bundelkhand, the Inter-ministerial  Committee  constituted  by  the  Government  had  identified  seven  sources  of income growth viz., improvement in crop productivity; improvement in livestock productivity; resource use efficiency or savings in the cost of production; increase in the cropping intensity; diversification towards high value crops; improvement in real prices received by farmers; and shift from farm to non-farm occupations. All activities of identified Departments are geared to achieving this objective. Various schemes are being promoted and implemented in a major way through the States/UTs. A list of various interventions inter-alia taken by the Government is as annexed.

Further, the Government of India had approved continuation of Bundelkhand Special Package  during  the  12 th Plan  period  (2012-2017)  under  Backward  Regions  Grant  Fund (BRGF) with an outlay of Rs. 4400 crore to address various issues of Bundlekhand region for inter-alia sustaining food-grain production and welfare of the farmers.

Under this package, various interventions like Watershed Development, Construction of  Surface  Irrigation  Project,  Construction  of  Dug  well  and  its  energization,  Construction  of Stop Dams, Afforestation, Storage and Market yards, Distribution of Goats and Bulls, Fodder Storage,  Dairy  Development,  Drinking  Water  Supply,  Crops  and  Horticulture  Development, Marketing etc. were adopted in all 7 districts of Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh and 6 Districts of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh. As a result of implementation of various interventions, cropping  intensity,  cropped  area,  cropped  yield,  increase  in  underground  water  recharge, increase  in  irrigation  area  besides,  milk  production  have  been  reported  in  an  evaluation carried  out  by  NABARD  Consultancy  Services  (NABCONS)  .  All  these  measures  have resulted in increase in agriculture production as well as socio economic condition and income of the farmers of Bundelkhand region.

(b) to (f): Department  of  Animal  Husbandry  and  Dairying  is  not  implementing  any  such scheme to provide  financial  assistance  to  the  cattlemen  for  a  fixed  time  as  per  number  of animals reared by them. The Department is implementing Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) since September, 2010 through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)  with the objective of providing self-employment opportunities and promoting entrepreneurship in dairy sector, especially in rural areas. The following Dairy Development schemes are also implemented to help in increasing income of farmers in the country including Bundelkhand:

- i. National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)
- ii. National Dairy Plan-I
- iii. Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund Scheme
- iv. Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations engaged in dairy activities.
- v. Rashtriya Gokul Mission

Under  NPDD  scheme,  an  amount  of  Rs.  17.55  lakh  has  been  sanctioned  for  Datia district in Madhya Pradesh for installation of Automatic Milk Collection Unit.

NDDB Dairy  Services  (NDS),  a  wholly  owned  subsidiary  of  NDDB,  has  initiated dairy  development  activities  in  the  Bundelkhand  region  (both  Uttar  Pradesh  and  Madhya Pradesh) with financial assistance from National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), a project under Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. NRLM has approved three Dairy Development  Projects  for  Bundelkhand  region,  which  includes  two  projects  in  Madhya Pradesh and one in Uttar Pradesh. Details of which are as follows:

Dairy Development Project in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh envisages setup a producer  company  owned  by  women  milk  producer  members.  It  is  planned  to  cover  200 villages and procure about 26 thousand litres of milk per day from about 9000 women milk producers in 5th year of its operations.

Dairy  Development  Project  in  Chattarpur  district  of  Madhya  Pradesh  envisages setting  up  a  producer  company owned by  women milk producer members. It is planned to cover 250 villages and procure about 35 thousand litres of milk per day from about 12500 women milk producers in 5th year of its operations. The project outlay is about Rs. 1,707 lakh.

Dairy  Development  Project  in  five  districts  of  Bundelkhand  region  of  Uttar  Prades envisages  setting  up  a  producer  company  owned  by  women  milk  producer  members.  It  is planned to cover 600 villages of selected blocks of Jhansi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur and Jaluan  districts  and  procure  about  150  thousand  litres  of  milk  per  day  from  about  36,000 women milk producers in 5th year of its operations.

## Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 498 due for 25.06.2019-Statement in respect of Part (a) of the Question regarding Doubling of Farmers Income.

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  inter-alia such as:-

- (i)      Initiating market reforms through the State Governments.
- (ii) Encouraging  contract  farming  through  the  State  Governments  by  promulgating  of Model Contract Farming Act.
- (iii) Up-gradation  of  Gramin  Haats  to  work  as  centers  of  aggregation  and  for  direct purchase of agricultural commodities from the farmers.
- (iv) Launch of e-NAM initiative to provide farmers an electronic online trading platform.
- (v)      Implementation of flagship scheme of distribution of Soil Health Cards to farmers so that the use of fertilizers can be optimized.
- (vi)     'Per drop more crop' initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged for optimal utilization of water.
- (vii)     'Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)'  under  which  organic  farming  is  being promoted.
- (viii)     Pradhan Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY) has  been  launched  from  Kharif  2016 season to provide better insurance coverage to crops for risk mitigation,. 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.   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  increased  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) A  new  Umbrella  Scheme  'Pradhan  Mantri Annadata Aay  SanrakshanAbhiyan  (PMAASHA)' aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce has been launched 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)    The Government provides total interest subvention up to 5% (inclusive of 3% prompt repayment  incentive)  on  short-term  crop  loans  up  to  Rs.  3.00  lakh.  Thus,  loan  is available to farmers at a reduced rate of 4% per annum on prompt repayment.
- (xvii) 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.
- (xviii)  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.
- (xix) With a view to provide income support to all farmers 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  instalments  of  Rs.  2000/-  to  the farmers,  subject  to  certain  exclusions  relating  to  higher  income  groups.    About  14.5 crore farmers are expected to be covered under the Scheme.
- (xx)    With  a  view  to  provide  social  security  net  for  Small  and  Marginal  Farmers  (SMF)  as they have minimal or no savings to be provided 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/- to provide 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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