Lok Sabha Question No. 5393 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-05
Subject: Development of Organic Farming
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Adala Prabhakara Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 5393

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 th APRIL, 2022

## DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING

5393.  SHRI ADALA PRABHAKARA REDDY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  steps  that  have  been  taken  in  Andhra  Pradesh    for  the  development  of organic farming and  the amount of  funds allocated in this regard;
- (b) the incentives given to farmers who are performing organic farming;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to facilitate marketing for organic farmers;
- (d) the extent to which the organic farminghas  benefited Nellore district during the last five years;
- (e) whether the Union Government has designed any new policy for the development of organic farming; and
- (f) the time by which the said policy is expected to come into force and the manner in which it will be beneficial to farmers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) to (f) :Government of India is implementing Paramparagat Krishi VikasYojana (PKVY) scheme to promote organic farming in cluster mode across the country including the State of Andhra Pradesh since 2015-16. The scheme provides end to end support to famers form production to cultivation and marketing of organic produce.

Under PKVY, farmers are  provided financial  assistance  of  Rs  50,000  per  hectare/  3  years,  out  of which Rs. 31,000 (62%) is provided directly through DBT for inputs (bio fertilizers,  bio-pesticides, organic manure, compost, vermi-compost, botanical extracts etc).

Government is also implementingBhartiyaPrakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP) introduced during 202021  as  a  sub  scheme  of  Paramparagat  Krishi  VikasYojana  (PKVY)  for  the  promotion  of  agro- ecological farming system which have many variants and is based on sound ecological principles and traditional indigenous practices including  Natural Farming. The scheme is generic in nature and gives freedom  to farmers  to  adopt  indigenous  practices  with  emphasis  on  exclusion  of  all synthetic  chemical  inputs  and  also  promotes  on-farm  biomass  recycling  with  major  stress  on biomass  mulching,  use  of  cow  dung-urine  formulations  and  other  plant-based  preparations. Training  through  capacity  building  is  integral  part  of  the  scheme.  Under  BPKP,  financial assistance  of  Rs  12200/ha  for  3  years  is  provided  for  cluster  formation,  capacity  building  and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis. An area of 4.09 lakh ha area has been covered under natural farming and a total fund of Rs. 4980.99 lakh has been  released  to  8  States  namely  Andhra  Pradesh,  Chhattisgarh,  Kerala,  Himachal  Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Under PKVY assistance of Rs. 8,800 /hectare for 3 years  provided for  value addition, publicity and marketing of organic products. Government has launched web portal www.Jaivikkheti.in/    as  online  platform  for  direct  sale  of  organic  produce  by  farmers  to  the consumers  which  helps  farmers  for  better  price  realization.  5.73  lakhs  farmers  have  already registered on the portal for online marketing of their organic produce.

In Andhra Pradesh organic and Natural Farming Promotion Programme are being implemented by a State Government Corporation 'RythuSadhikaraSamstha (RySS)'. Funds and programme  sanctioned  under  PKVY  are  also  being  utilizedand  implemented  through  RySS. Details of the programme implemented are as follows (information as provided by State)

-  GoAP  has  created  a  separate  Natural  Farming  department  at  Secretariatlevel  under  A&C Department.
-  GoAP mandated RythuSadhikaraSamstha (RySS) to spearhead the implementation of Natural Farming programme in Andhra Pradesh.
-  RySS has a dedicated State Project Management Unit (SPMU) at state level, District Project Management Unit (DPMU) at district level and Community cadre at village level.
-  Support from district administration to the programme.
-  RySS is conducting State level  Training of Trainers (TOT)s, District level TOTs and Village level awareness campaigns.
-  RySS  is  providing  hand  holding  support  to  farmers  with  the  help  of  master  farmers /Community Resource Persons (CRPs).
-  In  A.P.,  Women  Self  Help  Groups  provide  support  for  mobilization,  planning,  programme monitoring, input preparation at the village level and for a group of villages.
-  Farmer wise Natural farming action plans are prepared every year with the support of women SHGs.
-  Extension involves video dissemination of Natural farming practices through Pico projectors, and Farmer friendly content and Package of practices.
-  RySS  disseminates  Natural  farming  activities  and  success  stories  in  RBKs  and  provides Natural farming inputs at RBKs.

Funds allocated to the State of Andhra Pradesh under PKVY scheme since 2015-16 to 2020-21 is as under :

(Rs. in lakhs)

| Year    |   Funds Allocated under PKVY |
|---------|------------------------------|
| 2016-17 |                       780.71 |
| 2017-18 |                      2359.66 |
| 2018-19 |                      9673.14 |
| 2019-20 |                      9484.48 |
| 2020-21 |                      8078.4  |
| Total   |                     20892.2  |

Marketing initiatives under taken by  Andhra Pradesh is given under:

-  Natural farming produce marketing by women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations.
-  Marketing tie-up between women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and Farmer Entrepreneurs (FEs).
-  Facilitating working capital through women groups and their federations, bank linkages, Streenidhi etc.
-  Initiating stalls in APMC or Rythu Bazars.
-  Supporting FPOs in value-addition, branding and marketing, and exports.

Farmers and area covered under PKVY in Nellore district during the last five years is  given as :.

| APCNF        |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020- 21 |
|--------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| Farmers (No) |      2410 |    8863   |    9802   |   23250   |    41760   |
| Area (Ha)    |      1494 |    3353.1 |    3855.7 |    9118.3 |    15645.3 |

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