Lok Sabha Question No. 3475 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-10
Subject: Increase in Farmers Income
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Preneet Kaur, Midhun Reddy, Ritesh Pandey, V. Kalanidhi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  3475

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 10 TH  AUGUST, 2021

## INCREASE IN FARMERS INCOME

3475.  SHRIMATI PRENEET KAUR: SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY: SHRI RITESH PANDEY: DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

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

- (a) the  present  status  of  the  Government's  plan  to  double  farmers  income  within the country including the target set and achievements made so far; (b) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  annual  survey  to  measure  farm and farmers income within the country recently, if so, the details thereof; (c) if  not,  the  reasons  therefor  along  with  the  plans  to  double  farmers  incomes without measuring farm and farmer incomes; (d) whether the Ministry has seen at least a 75% increase in farmers' income in any part of the country since 2016; (e) the  percentage  by  which  the  COVID-19  pandemic  has  offset  the  increase  in
- farmer's income in the financial year 2020-21; and
- (f)  whether the decrease, if  any,  will adversely  affect  the  Government's target of doubling farmers' income by 2022 as promised, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a):      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 final 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.

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 like Micro Irrigation Fund, as also  in  the  Ministry  of  Fisheries,  Animal  Husbandry  and  Dairying  to  promote  dairy and fishery sectors. There have been several reforms to unleash the potential and these include 'The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation)  Act,  2020';  'The  Farmers  (Empowerment  &  Protection)  Agreement  on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.  2020' and the schemes such as Promotion of  10,000  FPOs  with  necessary  financial  support  under  Atma  Nirbhar  Package (Agriculture).    Rs.  One  lakh  crore  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF)  has  been launched  to  provide  medium  to  long  term  debt  financing  for  investment  in  viable projects,  Launch of PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) in  2019  -an income support scheme providing Rs. 6000 per year in 3 equal instalments etc. In the  Budget  Announcement  2021-22,  allocation  to  Micro  Irrigation  Fund  has  been doubled to Rs 10,000 crore and Institutional Credit has been increased to Rs 16.50 lakh crore. A list of programmes/achievements is at Annexure .

(b) to (f):     The last Situation Assessment Survey was conducted by NSSO in 201213.  During  COVID-19  pandemic,  the  agriculture  sector  has  functioned  smoothly, Government of India has taken all necessary measures to ensure smooth operation of agriculture related activities. Farming and allied activities were exempted from the lockdown  during  COVID-19  period.  As  per  the  first  Advance  Estimate  of  National Income, agriculture and allied sectors registered a growth of 3.6% during 2020-21.

## ACHIEVEMENTS

## 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 305.43 million tonnes in 2020-21 (Third advance estimate) which is the highest ever food  grain  production.  Horticulture  production  has  increased  from  280.99  million tonnes in 2014-15 to 320.48 million tonnes in 2020-21 (2 nd advance Estimate) 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.
- Government has recently announced MSPs for Kharif crops of year 2021-22 on 9 th June 2021. The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been fixed for sesamum (Rs. 452 per quintal) followed by tur and urad (Rs. 300 per quintal each).  In case of groundnut and nigerseed, there has been an increase of Rs 275 per quintal and Rs 235 per quintal respectively in comparison to last year. MSP of paddy has been increased by Rs. 72 per quintal in comparison to last year. The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (85%) followed by urad (65%) and tur (62%). For rest of the crops, return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%.

## 4. Income support to farmers through PM KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi)

Launch of PM-KISAN in 2019 -an income support scheme providing Rs. 6000 per year in 3 equal instalments. A total of Rs. 1.39 lakh crore has been released so far to 11.05 crore farmer families.

## 5. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (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  7.7  crore  farmer applicants have received claims of over Rs. 94,584 Crore. During this period nearly ₹ 17,618 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium. Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received Rs. 536 as claims.

## Annexure

## 6. 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.  Till date 228 lakh new KCC applications have been sanctioned with a sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 2,32,812 crore as part of the drive.

## 7. 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 11.97 crore farmers under a nationwide program.

## 8. Promotion of organic farming in the country

- Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)  was  initiated  in  2015-16  to promote organic farming in the country. 30934 clusters have been formed and an area of 6.19 lakh ha has been covered benefitting 15.47 lakh farmers.
- Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region (MOVCDNER)  has  been  launched.  170  Farmer  Producer  Companies  have  been formed comprising of 138467 farmers and covering 130445 ha area.

## 9. 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.

## 10. Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF)

Within  a  year  of  the  launch  of  AIF,  the  scheme  mobilized  Rs.7700  Crore  worth agriculture infrastructure in the country for more than 7300projects.  With the support of  the  scheme,  various  agriculture  infrastructure  was  created  and  some  of  the infrastructure  is  at  the  final  stage  of  completion.  This  infrastructure  includes  3898 warehouses, 155 assaying units, 136 primary processing units, 135 sorting & grading units, 20 smart & precision agriculture projects and around 3000 other kind of postharvest management projects and community farming assets.

## 11. 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.   So far 713 FPOs already registered under New FPO scheme.

12. 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  20222023 has been allocated for the sector.

## 13. Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY-PDMC)

Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhanmantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY\_PDMC) aims  to  increase  water  use  efficiency  at  the  farm  level  through Micro Irrigation technologies, i.e.,  drip and sprinkler irrigation systems.  Under the scheme  an area  of  20.39  lakh  hectare  has  been  covered  and  about  16  lakh  farmers were benefited under micro-irrigation during 2019-20 & 2020 - 21. An amount of Rs. 5262.20 crore has been provided to states as central assistance under PMKSY-PDMC during 2019-20 and 2020-21.  For the year 2021-22, an amount of Rs. 4000.00 crore (B.E.)  has  been  allocated  for  implementation  of  the  scheme  and  an  amount  of  Rs. 351.50 crore released to States so far.

## 14. 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.1000  crores. Projects worth Rs 3970.17 crore covering 12.83 lakh hectares have been approved.

## 15. Agricultural Mechanization

Agricultural  mechanization  is  extremely  vital  to  modernize  agriculture  and  reduce drudgery  of  farming  operations.  During  the  period  from  2014-15  to  July  2021  an amount  of  Rs.5490.82  crore  have  been  allocated  for  agricultural  mechanization. 13,24,124  numbers  of machines  and equipments have been  provided to  farmers on subsidy.      15,390  custom  hiring  centers,  362  high-tech  hubs  and  14235  farm machinery banks have been established to make available agricultural machines and equipments to the farmers on rental basis.

## 16. National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme

- In 18 states and 03 UTs, 1000 markets have been integrated with the e-NAM Platform.  Government  has  announced  in  the  Budget  2021-22  to  integrate  another 1000 mandis with e-NAM.
- So far, more than 1.71 crore farmers as well as 1.72 lakh traders are registered on the platform.  As on 27.07.2021, total volume of 4.55 crore metric tonnes with a total value of Rs. 1.40 lakh crore (as on 27.07.2021) trade has been recorded.

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

646 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors have been selected (till 31 March 2021) for funding of a sum of Rs. 69.92 crore in instalments and Rs. 33.94 crore have been released  to respective KPs and RABIs for funding these start-ups. These startups  were  trained  for  two  months  at  various  agribusiness  incubation  centres  i.e. Knowledge Partners (KPs) & RKVY-RAFTAAR (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation) Agribusiness Incubators (RABIs).

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