Lok Sabha Question No. 5363 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-05
Subject: Assistance to Farmers in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: A. Ganeshamurthi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  5363

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 5 th  APRIL, 2022

## ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS IN TAMIL NADU

5363.   SHRI A. GANESHAMURTHI:

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

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

- (a) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to help the farmers to increase their income in the country especially in the State of Tamil Nadu;
- (b) whether  any  social  audit  has  been  carried  out  to  find  out  the  extent  to  which  the schemes  like  PM-KISAN,  PMFBY  and  PMKSY  have  reached  the  small  and  marginal farmers and benefits accrued to them;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  number  of  farmers  benefitted  by  availing  production  loan  through  Kisan  Credit Card and Interest Subvention Scheme in the State during each of the last three years; and
- (e) any  other  plans  or  schemes  proposed  to  mitigate  the  sufferings  of  farmers  in  the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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

- (a): Agriculture being a State Subject, the State Governments take appropriate measures for development of agriculture in the State. However, Government of India supplements the efforts  of  States  through  appropriate  policy  measures  and  budgetary  support  and  various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers.    The  Government has initiated  various interventions/  projects    for  the welfare  of  farmers  in  the  country  including  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  such  as,  PM-KISAN, fixation  of  Minimum  Support  Price  (MSP)  by  providing  minimum  50%  return  over  cost  of

production, Soil Health Card (SHC),   Neem coated urea, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinhchayee Yojana (PMKSY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM),     National Mission on Oilseeds and  Oil  Palm  (NMOOP),  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY),  Mission  Integrated Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH),  Integrated  Pest  Management,  Integrated  Nutrient Management, National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Watershed Development  Project,  Sub-mission  on  Agricultural  Mechanization(SMAM)  and  Custom Hiring  Centres  (CHCs).  Sub-mission  on  Seeds  and  Planting  Material  (SMSP),  Per  Drop More Crop (PDMC-PMKSY), Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Interest Subvention Scheme.

(b) & (c): PM-Kisan: Social audit of PM-Kisan is conducted by the States/UTs and they have been requested to conduct the social audit of PM-Kisan beneficiaries.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) : Crop insurance is a financial tool to insure farmers for their crop losses against  natural calamity/adverse season on payment of admissible premium by them  to the insurance company.   Hence, under the crop insurance schemes  claims  are  paid  to  only  those  farmers  who  insured  their  crops  and  paid  its applicable (i.e. 2% for Kharif, 1.5% for Rabi food and oilseed crops and 5% of sum insured for commercial/horticultural crops) premium share under any of the notified crop insurance scheme in the notified area/crop by the State Govt.  Farmer category-wise granular data is being  collected  on  the  National  Crop  Insurance  Portal  (NCIP).   As  per  data  available  on NCIP above 80% of the farmer applications enrolled under the scheme are of Small and Marginal farmers.

Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) : Evaluation of  the PDMC programme conducted by NITI Aayog during 2020-21., The study highlighted that the PDMC programme is relevant in achieving  national  priorities  such  as  substantially  improving  on-farm  water  use  efficiency, enhancing  crop  productivity,  generating  employment  opportunities  etc.  Besides,  it  has observed Micro irrigation adoption has helped to save water across various states around 30 to 70%.

(d): The number of farmer accounts benefitted by availing crop production loan through Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and Interest Subvention Scheme in the State of Tamil Nadu during 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 (upto 31.12.2021) are  18515962, 16456208 and 8336705 respectively.

(e): 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 such as creating Corpus Funds like Micro Irrigation Fund etc. There have been several  reforms  to  unleash  the  potential,  e.g.  Formation  and  Promotion  of  10,000  FPOs along  with  necessary  financial  support  under  Atma  Nirbhar  Package  (Agriculture).  Under Atma Nirbhar Bharat special attention is being paid for creation of infrastructure for which ' Agri  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF)  has  been  created    with  a  size  of  Rs.  100,000  crore.  Other special  initiatives  include  Supplementary  Income  transfers  under  PM-KISAN; Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna  (PMFBY);  Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Regions (MOVCDNER); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY); Increase in  Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif & Rabi Crops ensuring a minimum of 50 percent of profit margin on the cost of production, Bee-Keeping; Rashtriya Gokul Mission; Blue  Revolution;  Interest  Subvention  Scheme;  Kisan  Credit  Card  (KCC)  that  now  offers production loan to even dairy & fishery farmers besides agricultural crops etc. The adoption of Drone technologies in agriculture has a potential to revolutionize the Indian agriculture.  In order  to  make  Drone  technology  affordable  to  the  farmers  and  other  stakeholders  of  this sector, financial assistance @ 100 % cost of drone together with the contingent expenditure is  extended  to  ICAR/SAU/  State  governments/  State  government  Institutions  under  SubMission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) for its demonstration on the farmer's fields.

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