Lok Sabha Question No. 5386 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-05
Subject: Provision of Agricultural Inputs
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5386

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 TH  APRIL, 2022

## PROVISION OF AGRICULTURAL INPUTS

5386. SHRI JASWANT SINGH BHABHOR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी be pleased to state: (a)  whether  there  is  any  comprehensive  programme  by  the  Government  to  upgrade agricultural technology to provide quality seeds and farming technology including some of the best available from outside the country; and (b) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ षएवंकसानकयाणमंी

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a) & (b): Government  of  India  is  implementing  Sub-Mission  on  Seeds  and  Planting Materials (SMSP) under which financial assistance is provided in various sub-components for  distribution  of  certified/quality  seeds,  Creation/Strengthening  of  Seed  Infrastructure facilities etc. The details of Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSP) is placed at Annexure-I .

Also, Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) through National Agricultural Research System  has  developed  1956  field  crop  varieties  comprising  of  924  of  cereals,  291  of oilseeds, 304 of Pulses, 118 of Forage crops, 239 of Fiber crops, 64 of Sugarcanes and 16 of  other  crops  since  2014  which  include  87  nutrition-rich  crop  cultivars.  All  the  released varieties  are  put  in  breeder  seed  production  chain  for  downstream  multiplication  of foundation and certified seed by the various public and private seed production agencies for further distribution to the farmers. Further, Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) is coordinating the production of breeder seed and quality seed through two  nation-wide  network  projects  viz.  All  India  Coordinated  Research  Project  -  National Seed Project  (Crops) and  ICAR Seed  Project.  The  details  of  seed  production  under  the said projects may be seen at Annexure-II .

Furthermore, since 2014-15,Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is being implemented with the aim of 'reaching the unreached' by bringing small and marginal farmers including women farmers in the core and giving the benefits of farm mechanization by  promoting  Custom  Hiring  Centers,  creating  hubs  for  hi-tech  &  high  value  farm equipments, distribution of various agricultural equipments etc. The details of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is placed at Annexure-III .

## Annexure-I

## The details of sub-components under SMSP scheme may be seen as under:

Seed Village Programme: Govt. of India is implementing Seed Village Programme to upgrade  the  quality  of  farmer's  saved  seeds.  Under  this  programme,  the  financial assistance  for  distribution  of  foundation/certified  seeds  at  50%  cost  of  the  seeds  for cereal  crops  and  60%  for  pulses,  oilseeds,  fodder  and  green  manure  crops  for production of quality seeds is available for one acre per farmer under Sub-Mission on Seeds & Planting Material (SMSP). The objective of this scheme is to make available improved /high yielding varieties seeds to the farmers in time to achieve self-sufficiency in respect of seeds at village level itself.

The financial and physical progress made under the scheme for the last three years and current year is mentioned below:

| S. No.      | Financial Year   |   Fund Released (in Lakhs) |   Seed Distribution Achievement (in Quintals) |   Seed Village Achievement (In No's) |   Seed Produced (in Quintals) |   Total Farmers (F+M) |
|-------------|------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1           | 2018-19          |                   14011.8  |                              887279           |                               104600 |                   2.19894e+07 |               3415281 |
| 2           | 2019-20          |                    8893.33 |                              696955           |                                77534 |                   1.87493e+07 |               3195043 |
| 3           | 2020-21          |                   12830.4  |                              630236           |                                65732 |                   2.43453e+07 |               3612841 |
| 4           | 2021-22          |                    3071.56 |                              294780           |                                21499 |                   7.71312e+06 |               1087596 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total      |                   38807.1  |                                   2.50925e+06 |                               269365 |                   7.27971e+07 |              11310761 |

Certified Seed Production through Seed Village : This component has been initiated from  the  year  2014-15  to  encourage  the  farmers  for  taking  up  Seed  production  of Pulses,  Oilseeds,  Fodder  and  Green  Manure  crops  for  making  available  required certified seeds at village itself for making available certified seeds to the farmers locally. Under this component, financial assistance /subsidy @ 75% cost of foundation/certified seeds are available/ provided to the farmers for production of certified seeds.

The financial and physical progress made under the scheme for the last three years and current year is mentioned below:

| S. No.      | Financial Year   |   Fund Released (in Lakhs) | Seed Distribution Achievement (in Quintals)   | Seed Produced (in Quintals)   | Total Farmers (in No.)   |
|-------------|------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------|
| 1           | 2018-19          |                     698.71 | 21786.72                                      | 220733.00                     | 53622                    |
| 2           | 2019-20          |                    1121.64 | 9780.00                                       | 116637.00                     | 25450                    |
| 3           | 2020-21          |                     701.81 | 27642.20                                      | 221138.00                     | 30725                    |
| 4           | 2021-22          |                     776.81 | -                                             | -                             | -                        |
| Grand Total | Grand Total      |                    3298.97 | 59208.92                                      | 558508.00                     | 109797                   |

Creation/Strengthening of Seed Infrastructure Facilities (in Public Sector): In order to  establish/strengthen infrastructure facilities for  production  and distribution  of  quality seeds, assistance for creating facilities of seed cleaning, grading, processing, packing and seed storage is provided/ available to the States and implementing agencies.

The financial and physical progress made under the scheme for the last three years and current year is mentioned below:

| S. No.      | Financial Year   |   Total Amount Released (In Lakhs) |   SPP Capacity (In MT) |   SSG Capacity (In MT) |
|-------------|------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
| 1           | 2018-19          |                            5143    |                24620.9 |               49624.1  |
| 2           | 2019-20          |                            1145.35 |                 4500   |               18236.7  |
| 3           | 2020-21          |                            1614.18 |                24000   |               17513.3  |
| 4           | 2021-22          |                             370.21 |                 1750   |                5119.55 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total      |                            8272.74 |                54870.9 |               90493.7  |

Establishment of Seed Processing-cum-Seed Storage Godowns at Gram Panchayat Level: As per Group of Secretaries (GOS) Recommendations, 500 no. of Seed  Processing-cum-storage  godown  Units  each  of  500MT  capacity  costing  @ Rs.60.00 lakh (GOI share 100 %) each at Gram Panchayat level are to be established in the country to produce the seeds by farmers themselves for making available quality seeds at village level itself. The financial achievement from the years 2017-18 to 201920 is as under:

| S. No.      | Financial Year   |   Total Amount Released (in Lakhs) |   Storage Units (in No) |   Storage Capacity (in MTs) |   Processing Units (In No) |   Processing Capacity in (MTs) |
|-------------|------------------|------------------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1           | 2017-18          |                              18000 |                     300 |                      150000 |                        300 |                         150000 |
| 2           | 2018-19          |                               6000 |                     100 |                       50000 |                        100 |                          50000 |
| 3           | 2019-20          |                               7020 |                     117 |                       58500 |                        117 |                          58500 |
| Grand Total | Grand Total      |                              31020 |                     517 |                      258500 |                        517 |                         258500 |

Transport  subsidy  on  movement  of  seeds  to  Northeastern  states  including Sikkim,  J&K,  H.P.,  Uttarakhand  and  hill  areas  of  West  Bengal: In  order  to  make timely availability of  certified/quality  seeds  at  affordable  price  to  the  farmers  of hilly/remote  areas  of  North-Eastern  States,  this  scheme  is  in  operation.  As  per  this scheme  (i)  100%  difference  between  road  and  rail  transportation  charge  is  being reimbursed  to  implementing  State/agencies  for  movement  of  seeds  produced  from outside the State to the identified State Capital/Distt. Headquarter and (ii) actual cost restricted  to  maximum  limit  of  Rs.120.  qtl.  whichever  is  less  for  movement  of  seeds transported  within  the  State  from  State  Capital/Distt  Headquarter  to  sale  outlets/sale counters is being reimbursed. The details of Year Wise amount reimbursed &quantity seeds moved for last three years and current year is as under:

| S. No.      | Financial   | Total Amount Released   | Quantity Moved (In Quintals)   | For North Eastern States         | For North Eastern States     |
|-------------|-------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------------------|
|             | Year        | (In Lakhs)              |                                | Total Amount Released (In Lakhs) | Quantity Moved (In Quintals) |
| 1           | 2018-19     | 324.35                  | 150399.93                      | 194.74                           | 44755.30                     |
| 2           | 2019-20     | 383.40                  | 276832.84                      | 94.79                            | 22624.76                     |
| 3           | 2020-21     | 247.06                  | 142217.95                      | 49.22                            | 13674.84                     |
| 4           | 2021-22     | 574.96                  | 300899.75                      | 294.78                           | 63474.07                     |
| Grand Total | Grand Total | 1529.77                 | 870350.47                      | 633.53                           | 144528.97                    |

## Annexure-II

Quantum of Breeder Seed Production under All India Coordinated Research Project National Seed Project (Crops) during last three years is as under:

| Year    |   Indent (in qtls) |   Production (in qtls) |
|---------|--------------------|------------------------|
| 2018-19 |            83690.1 |                 117772 |
| 2019-20 |            85752.8 |                 116573 |
| 2020-21 |            80938.5 |                 115517 |
| Total   |           250381   |                 349862 |

Quantum of Quality Seed Production under ICAR Seed Project during last three years is as under:

| Particulars                       | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | Total     |
|-----------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Foundation seed (q)               | 138337.3  | 121276.5  | 60504.4   | 320118.2  |
| Certified seed (q)                | 180804.9  | 163159.1  | 120334.3  | 464298.3  |
| TFL seed (q)                      | 87492.3   | 97109.5   | 77974.7   | 262576.5  |
| Planting material (q)             | 61976.0   | 39267.5   | 27876.4   | 129119.9  |
| Total                             | 468610.5  | 420812.6  | 286689.8  | 1176112.9 |
| Planting materials (nos. in lakh) |           |           |           |           |
| Planting material                 | 178.1     | 168.7     | 356.6     | 703.4     |
| Tissue culture plants             | 12.2      | 8.4       | 8.5       | 29.1      |
| Total                             | 190.3     | 177.2     | 365.1     | 732.6     |

## Annexure-III

Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)  is being implemented w.e.f April,2014 through StatesGovernments/UTs.The scheme aims at 'reaching the unreached' by bringing to the  small and marginal farmers which include women farmers in the core and giving the benefits of  farm mechanization, by Promoting 'Custom Hiring Centers' , creating hubs for hi-tech & high value farm equipments, distribution of various agricultural equipments, creating awareness among stakeholders through demonstration  and  capacity  building  activities,  and  ensuring  performance  testing  and certification at designated testing centers located all over the country.

## Mission Objectives

- a)  Increasing the reach of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers and to the regions where availability of farm power is low;
- b)  Promoting 'Custom Hiring Centresto offset the adverse economies of scale arising due to small landholding and high cost of individual ownership;
- c)  Creating hubs for hi-tech& high value farm equipments;
- d)  Creating  awareness  among  stakeholders  through  demonstration  and  capacity building activities;
- e)  Ensuring performance testing and certification at designated testing centers located all over the country.

Year-wise funds released under SMAM is given below:

| Year        | Fund released (in crores)   |
|-------------|-----------------------------|
| 2014-15     | 194.87                      |
| 2015-16     | 153.1                       |
| 2016-17     | 363.63                      |
| 2017-18     | 791.04                      |
| 2018-19     | 1126.77                     |
| 2019-20     | 992.19                      |
| 2020-21     | 1026.63                     |
| 2021-22*    | 803.98                      |
| *As on date | *As on date                 |

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