Lok Sabha Question No. 1349 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-09
Subject: Measuring Farmers Income
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dibyendu Adhikari, Preneet Kaur, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Adoor Prakash, Abdul Khaleque

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1349

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  9 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021

## MEASURING FARMERS INCOME

1349.     SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI: SHRIMATI PRENEET KAUR: SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA: ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH: SHRI ABDUL KHALEQUE:

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

- (a) whether the Government has set a goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the progress achieved so far in attaining this goal;
- (c) the total number of farmers in the country, Statewise;
- (d) whether the Government has carried out any review of the rise in income of farmers in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) when the last survey on farmers income was conducted in the country;
- (f) whether  the  Government has  put  in  place  any  annual  surveys  to  measure  farmers' expenditure and farmers' incomes in the country;
- (g) if so, details of the same including information on the current monthly farmer incomes on average in each State of India vis-à-vis their monthly expenditure; and
- (h) if  not,  the  details  on  how  the  Government  intends  to  monitor  progress  and  its commitment to double farmer incomes in India?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष

एवं कसान कयाण मंी ( SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)   & (b): 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.

The Government has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers. All these policies & programmes are being supported by higher budgetary allocations, non-budgetary financial resources by way of creating Corpus Funds, and supplementary income transfers under PM-KISAN. The latest  major  intervention  includes  the  'Atma  Nirbhar  Bharat  -  Agriculture  package'  which includes  comprehensive  market  reforms  and  creation  of  'Agricultural  Infrastructure  Fund (AIF)' worth Rs. 1 lakh crore. A list of achievements of the Government is at Annexure-I.

(c): State-wise  details  of  number  of  farmers  in  the  Country,  as  per  Agriculture  Census 2015-16, are at Annexure-II.

(d) to (g): The latest available estimates on income of agricultural households are based on  the  'Situation  Assessment  Survey  of  Agricultural  Households'  conducted  by  National Statistical  Office  (NSO)  during  its  70 th round  (January  2013  -December  2013)  for  the reference  agricultural  year  July  2012-June  2013.  As  per  the  survey  results,  the  average monthly income per agricultural household from all sources was estimated to be Rs. 6,426/-.

(h): The Doubling of Farmers Income Committee submitted its report to the Government in September 2018. After acceptance of the DFI Committee recommendations, the Government has constituted an 'Empowered Body' to review and monitor the progress.

## 1. Unprecedented enhancement in budget allocation

In the year 2013-14, the Budget allocation for Department of Agriculture was only Rs. 21933.50  crore.  This  has  been  increased  by  more  than  5.5  times  to  Rs.  1,23017.57 crore in 2021-22.

## 2. Record food grains and horticulture production

Food grain production has increased from 265.05 million tonnes in 2013-14 to record 296.65 million tones in 2019-20 which is the highest ever food grain production. As per third advanced estimates, horticulture production during 2019-20 is 319.57 million MT which is the highest ever for Indian horticulture.

## 3. Fixing of MSP at one-and-a half times the cost of production -

-  Government  has  increased  the  MSP  for  all  mandated  Kharif,  Rabi  and  other commercial  crops  with  a  return  of  at  least  50  per  cent  over  all  India  weighted average cost of production from 2018-19.
-  MSP for Paddy has increased to Rs. 1868 per quintal in 2020-21 from Rs. 1310 per quintal in 2013-14 marking an increase of 43%.
-  MSP for  Wheat increased  from  Rs.  1400  per  quintal  in  2013-14  to  Rs.  1975  per quintal in 2020-21.

## 4. Increase in procurement from farmers

-  MSP payment to   farmers for pulses has increased by 95.93 times during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 201314.  MSP Payment of Rs 61,861 Crore has been made as against Rs 645 Crore of the previous 5 years.
-  MSP payment to farmers for oilseeds and copra has increased by 10.80 times during the last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21) in comparison to the period from 2009-10 to 2013-14. MSP Payment of Rs 26627 Crore has been made as against Rs 2460 Crore of the previous 5 years.

## 5. Income support to farmers through PM KISAN

Launch  of  PM-KISAN  in  2019  -an  income  support  scheme  providing  Rs.  6000 per year in 3 equal installments. A total of Rs. 115276.77 crore has been released so far to 10.74 crore farmer families.

## 6. Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)

PMFBY  was  launched  in  2016  addressing  problems  of  high  premium  rates  for farmers and reduction in sum insured due to capping. In past 4 years of implementation -  23  crore  farmer  applicants  enrolled     and  over  7.5  crore  farmer  applicants  have received claims of over Rs. 90,000 crore.  During this period nearly Rs.17,505 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims of over Rs.90,000 Crore have been paid to them. Thus for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received Rs. 517 as claims.

## 7. Institutional credit for agriculture sector

-  Increased from Rs. 7.3 lakh crore in 2013-14 with a target to reach  Rs. 16.5 lakh crore in 2021-22.
-  Benefit of concessional institutional credit through KCC at 4% interest per annum has  also  now  been  extended  to  Animal  Husbandry  and  Fisheries  farmers  for meeting theirshort term working capital needs.
-  A special drive has been undertaken since February 2020 to provide concessional credit to PM-KISAN beneficiaries through Kisan Credit Cards.  174.96 lakh KCC applications sanctioned and Rs. 163627 crore loan sanctioned as part of the drive.

## 8. Providing Soil Health Cards to farmers

Soil  Health  Card  Scheme  was  introduced  in  the  year  2014-15  to  optimize  usage  of nutrients.  Soil  health  cards  have  been  issued  free  of  cost  to  nearly  11  crore  farmers under a nationwide program.

## 9. Promotion of organic farming in the country

-  ParamparagatKrishiVikasYojana  (PKVY)  was  initiated  in  2015-16  to  promote organic  farming  in  the  country.  30934  clusters  have  been  formed  and  an  area  of 10.26 lakh ha has been covered benefitting 15.47 lakh farmers.
-  Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region (MOVCDNER) has been launched. 169 Farmer Producer Companies have been formed comprising of 83,096 farmers and covering 79,445 ha area.

## 10. Neem Coating of Urea

Neem Coated Urea has been introduced since 2015-16 to ensure long availability of nutrients  in  the  soil  by  slow  release  of  nitrogen.  It  has  also  helped  in  curtailing diversion of urea for non- agricultural activities.

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## 11. Agri Infrastructure Fund

Rs.  1  lakh  crore  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF)  has  been  launched  to provide medium to long term debt financing for investment in viable projects for postharvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through 3% interest subvention and Credit Guarantee support for loans  upto Rs. 2 crore.   As on date, 3055 projects  of  Primary  Agricultural  Credit  Societies  worth  a  loan  amount  of  Rs.  2991 crore have been sanctioned by NABARD.  1134 Projects (other than PACs) worth Rs. 1155 Crore have already been approved by PMU for financing under the scheme. Rs.286 crore have been sanctioned by banks for 276 projects.

## 12. Promotion of FPOs

Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs launched with a total budgetary provision of Rs. 6865 Crore in February 2020.

13. A National Bee and Honey Mission (NBHM) has been launched in 2020 as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Rs.500 crore for the period 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 has been allocated for the sector.

## 14. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

Per Drop more Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY PDMC) aims  to  increase  water  use  efficiency  at  the  farm  level  through  precision micro irrigation technologies i.e. drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. Additional 51.54 lakh hectare area has been covered under micro irrigation from the year  2015-16  till  date  in  the  country.  An  amount  of  Rs.  13473.37  crore  as  central assistance has been provided to states under PMKSY since 2015-16.

## 15. Micro Irrigation Fund

A Micro  Irrigation  Fund  of  Rs 5000 crore has  been  placed  with  NABARD.   In  the Budget  for  2021-22  the  corpus  of  the  fund  has  been  increased  to  Rs.  10000  crore. Projects worth Rs 3955.33 crore covering 12.79 lakh hectares have been approved.

## 16. Agricultural Mechanization

Agricultural  mechanisation  is  extremely  vital  to  modernise  agriculture  and  reduce drudgery  of  farming  operations.   During  the  period  from  2014-15  to  2020-21  an amount  of  Rs.4556.93  crore  have  been  allocated  for  agricultural  mechanisation. 1266844  numbers  of  machines  and  equipments  have  been  provided  to  farmers  on subsidy.   14182 custom hiring centers, 310 high-tech hubs and 13080 farm machinery banks have been established.

## 17. Changes in Disaster Relief Standards

-  Major changes were made in disaster relief standards and assistance amount of all categories was increased by one and a half times.
-  Earlier, compensation was payable only on crop loss of more than 50%. Compensation is now payable even if the loss is 33% only.
-  The  Ex-gratia  payment  to  families  of  deceased  victims  of  natural  disasters  has been increased from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.4 lakh.
-  Admissibility of assistance has been increased from one hectare to two hectare.

## 18. Setting up of E-NAM extension Platform

-  In  18 states  and 03 UTs,  1000 markets  have  been  integrated  with  the  E-NAM Platform. In the Budget 2021-22 another 1000 mandis will be integrated with eNAM.
-  1.69 crore farmers are registered on the platform as well as 1.52 lakh  traders.  A total volume of 4.12 crore metric tonnes for a total value of Rs. 1.22 lakh crore (as on 31.1.2021)

## 19. Improvement in farm produce logistics, Introduction of Kisan Rail.

-  Kisan  Rail  has  been  launched  to  exclusively  cater  to  movement  of  perishable agrihorti commodities. First rail was started in July 2020.  Currently 10 Kisan Rails are being operated by Indian Railways.

## 20. Creation of a Start-up Eco system in agriculture and allied sector

452 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors have been selected for funding for a sum of Rs. 48.08 crore in instalments and Rs.20.90 crore has been released as a 1st  instalment  for  funding  these  start-ups.  These  start-ups  were  trained  for  two months at various agribusiness incubation centres i.e. Knowledge Partners (KPs) & RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs).

21.       Successful control of Two major Locust Attacks in the country in 2019-20  & 202021 by aggressively carrying out spraying including using drones for locust control.

Annexure-II

## Statewise Number of operational holdings for as per Agriculture Census 2015-16

| S. No.          | States/UTs        | Number of Operational Holdings(Number in '000)   |
|-----------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1               | A & N Islands     | 12                                               |
| 2               | Andhra Pradesh    | 8524                                             |
| 3               | Arunachal Pradesh | 113                                              |
| 4               | Assam             | 2742                                             |
| 5               | Bihar             | 16413                                            |
| 6               | Chandigarh        | 1                                                |
| 7               | Ch hattisga rh    | 4011                                             |
| 8               | D & N Haveli      | 15                                               |
| 9               | Daman & Diu       | 8                                                |
| 10              | Delhi             | 21                                               |
| 11              | Goa               | 75                                               |
| 12              | Gujarat           | 5321                                             |
| 13              | Haryana           | 1628                                             |
| 14              | Himachal Pradesh  | 997                                              |
| 15              | lammu & Kashmir   | 1417                                             |
| 16              | lharkhand         | 2803                                             |
| 17              | Karnataka         | 8681                                             |
| 18              | Kerala            | 7583                                             |
| 19              | Lakshadweep       | 10                                               |
| 20              | Madhya Pradesh    | 10003                                            |
| 21              | Maharashtra       | 15285                                            |
| 22              | Manipur           | 150                                              |
| 23              | Meghalaya         | 232                                              |
| 24              | Mizoram           | 90                                               |
| 25              | Nagaland          | 197                                              |
| 26              | Odisha            | 4866                                             |
| 27              | Puducherry        | 34                                               |
| 28              | Punjab            | 1093                                             |
| 29              | Rajasthan         | 7655                                             |
| 30              | Sikkim            | 72                                               |
| 31 32 Telangana | Tamil Nadu        | 7938 594'8                                       |
| 33              | Tripura           | 573                                              |
| 34              | Uttar Pradesh     | 23822                                            |
| 35              | Uttarakhand       | 881                                              |
| 36              | West Bengal       | 7243                                             |
| All India       |                   | 146457                                           |

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