Lok Sabha Question No. 175 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-02
Subject: National Farmers Day
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Ganesan Selvam, Umesh G. Jadhav, Vijay Kumar Dubey, B. Y. Raghavendra, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, Dhanush M Kumar, C.N. Annadurai, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Rebati Tripura

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.175

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  2 ND  FEBRUARY, 2021

## NATIONAL FARMERS' DAY

## 175.   SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

SHRI B.Y. RAGHAVENDRA:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON:

SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  observed  National  Farmers'  day  recently,  if  so,  the details thereof along with the steps taken to achieve the aims and objectives of the event and the details of programmes organized by the Government to mark this occasion;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  taken  measures  to  identify  the  major  problems  of agriculturists in the country and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken to resolve these problems;
- (c) whether there are many small and marginal farmers in the country having small land holdings;
- (d) if  so, whether the Government has taken any steps to persuade these farmers to go for cooperative farming and if so, the details of the achievement made so far; and
- (e) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  provide  quality  seeds  to  small  and marginal farmers at fair prices?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

(a): Yes,  The  National  Farmers  Day  was  celebrated  across  the  country  by  organizing different  activities  like  tree  plantations,  Kisan  melas,  farmer  related  Exhibitions,  webinars, awareness rallies, cleanliness drive, Farmer Scientist Interaction, Kisan Gosthies, farm visit, Exposure  visits,  discussion  about  new  farmers  bills,  discussion  about  Farmers  Producers Organizations  etc.  National  Farmers'  Day  was  also  celebrated  through  551  Krishi  Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) with participation of 43013 farmers.

(b): 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.

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, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY), Increase in Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif & Rabi Crops, Har Med Par Ped, Bee-Keeping, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, Blue Revolution, Interest Subvention Scheme, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), etc. The latest major intervention includes  the  'Atma  Nirbhar  Bharat  -  Agriculture'  which  includes  comprehensive  market reforms and creation of 'Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF)' worth Rs. 1 lakh crores.

(c): The share of small and marginal farmers in the country taken together (0.00-2.00 ha.) constituted 86.08% of the total land holdings as per census 2015-16 while there in the operational area stood at 46.94 %.

(d): In the Union Budget 2019-20, the Government of India had announced formation of 10000 new Farmers Producers Organization (FPOs) to ensure economies of scale of farmers over  the  5  years  period.  Farmers  Producers  Organizations  (FPOs)  are  registered  as Producer Companies and Co-operative Societies.

(e): Government  is  implementing Sub-Mission  on  Seeds  &  Planting  Materials  (SMSP) from  the  year  2014-15  to  promote  production  and  multiplication  of  quality  seeds  of agricultural crops, so that the required quantities of seeds could be made available to farmers including  small  and  marginal  farmers  in  the  country.      Seed  Village  Programme  has  been introduced to upgrade the quality of farmer's saved seeds. The KVKs produced 20100 tone quality seeds of improved varieties of different field crops and provided to the farmers during last one year.

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