Lok Sabha Question No. 1401 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-07
Subject: Increasing Income of Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1401

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 7 TH  DECEMBER, 2021

## INCREASING INCOME OF FARMERS

1401.  SHRI SAPTAGIRI SANKAR ULAKA:

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

- (a) the details of steps taken by the Government to increase the income of farmers of the country including in Odisha;
- (b) whether the three farm acts were introduced to increase the income of farmers; and
- (c) if so details thereof?

## ANSWER

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी

- (a) The  Government  has  adopted  several  developmental  programmes,  schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers of the country including in Odisha.  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  etc.  There  have  been  several  reforms  to  unleash  the  potential,  e.g. 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);    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  to provide  remunerative  price  to  farmers;  Har  Med  Par  Ped;  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. A list of interventions is at Annexure.

The programmes and schemes of Government of India, under implementation,  are in  line  with  the  strategy  that  focuses  on  higher  incomes  for  the  farmers,  including  in  the state  of  Odisha  besides  the  State  run  schemes  such  as  Odisha  Millet  Mission,  KALIA, Jalanidhi,  Farm  Pond,  Input  Management,  Corpus  funds  for  seeds  and  fertilisers  and Mukshyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana.

(b) & (c) : The three Farm Acts viz, 'The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion  and  Facilitation)  Act,  2020',  'The  Farmers  (Empowerment  and Protection)Agreement  On  Price  Assurance  and  Farm  Services  Act,  2020'  and  'The Essential  Commodities  (Amendment) Act,  2020,  were  intended  to  provide  an  ecosystem where  the  farmers  can  enjoy  the  freedom  of  choice  relating  to  sale  of  farmers'  produce which facilitates remunerative prices to farmers through competitive alternative channels for selling their produce.  These three Acts however have been repealed through, 'The Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021' on 01st December, 2021.

## List of various interventions and schemes launched for the benefit of farmers

- (i) Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN): With a view to provide income support to  all  farmers'  families  across  the  country,  to  enable  them  to  take  care  of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs, the Central  Government  started  a  new  Central  Sector  Scheme,  namely,  the  Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).  The scheme aims to provide a payment of Rs. 6000/- per year, in three 4-monthly instalments of Rs. 2000/- to the farmers families, subject to certain exclusions relating to higher income groups. A total of Rs. 1.6 lakh crore have been released so far to more than 11.5 crore farmer families .
- (ii) Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Maan  Dhan  Yojana  (PM-KMY): Further  with  a  view  to provide  social  security  net  for  Small  and  Marginal  Farmers  (SMF)  as  they  have minimal  or  no  savings  to  provide  for  old  age  and  to  support  them  in  the  event  of consequent  loss  of  livelihood  the  Government  has  decided  to  implement  another new  Central  Sector  Scheme  i.e.  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Maan  Dhan  Yojana  (PMKMY)  for  providing  old  age  pension  to  these  farmers.  Under  this  Scheme,  a minimum  fixed  pension  of  Rs.  3000/-  will  be  provided  to  the  eligible  small  and marginal  farmers,  subject  to  certain  exclusion  clauses,  on  attaining  the  age  of  60 years.
- (iii) Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY): With  a  view  to  provide  better insurance  coverage  to  crops  for  risk  mitigation,  a  crop  insurance  scheme  namely Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY)  was  launched  from  Kharif  2016 season.    This  scheme  provides  insurance  cover  for  all  stages  of  the  crop  cycle including post-harvest risks in specified instances, with low premium contribution by farmers.  During  this  period  nearly  Rs.  21450  crore  were  paid  by  farmers  as  their share of premium against which claims of over Rs.101875 crore (Provisional) have paid  to  them.  Thus  for  every  100  rupees  of  premium  paid  by  farmers,  they  have received Rs. 475 as claims.
- (iv) Minimum Support Price (MSPs): Giving a major boost for the farmers' income, the Government has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif & Rabi crops.
-  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.
-  MSP for Paddy has increased to Rs. 1868 per quintal in 2020-21 from Rs. 1310 per quintal in 2013-14 marking an increase of 43%.
-  MSP for Wheat increased from Rs. 1400 per quintal in 2013-14 to Rs. 1975 per quintal in 2020-21.
- (v) Soil Health Cards: Implementation of flagship scheme of distribution of Soil Health Cards to farmers so that the use of fertilizers can be rationalized. Soil health cards have  been  issued  free  of  cost  to  nearly  11  crore  farmers  under  a  nationwide program.
- (vi) 'Per  drop  more  crop ' initiative  under  which  drip/sprinkler  irrigation  is  being encouraged  for  optimal  utilization  of  water,  reducing  cost  of  inputs  and  increasing productivity. 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  PMKSYPDMC  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.
- (vii) 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)' for promoting organic farming. From 2018-19 to 2020-21,  achievement under PKVY scheme-19043 clusters have been formed and an area of 3.81 lakh ha has been covered benefitting 9.52 lakh farmers. In addition, under Namami Gange Programme 123620 ha area covered and under natural farming 4.09 lakh ha area covered.
- (viii) National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM)  scheme: Launch  of  e-NAM  initiative  to provide farmers with transparent and competitive online trading platform.
-  In 18 states and 03 UTs, 1000 markets have already been integrated with the E-NAM Platform.
-  As  of  24.11.2021,  total  volume  of  4.99  crore  MT  &  10.57  crore  numbers (Bamboo, Betel Leaves, Coconut, Lemon & Sweet corn) with collective worth of  approximately Rs. 1.57 lakh crore of trade has been recorded on e-NAM platform.  So  far,  more  than  1.72  crore  farmers  and  2.04  lakh  traders  have been registered with e-NAM platform
- (ix) Har  Med  Pard  Ped :  Under  the  scheme,  agro  forestry  is  being  promoted  for additional  income.  With  the  amendment  of  Indian  Forest  Act,  1927,  Bamboo  has been removed from the definition of trees. A restructured National Bamboo Mission has been launched in the year 2018  to promote bamboo plantation on non forest government  as  well  as  private  land  and  emphasis  on  value  addition,  product development and markets.
- (x) Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PMAASHA) : Giving a major boost  to  the  pro-farmer  initiatives,  the  Government  has  approved  a  new  Umbrella Scheme  'Pradhan  Mantri  Annadata  Aay  Sanrakshan  Abhiyan  (PMAASHA)'.  The Scheme is aimed at ensuring remunerative prices to the farmers for the produce as announced in the Union Budget for 2018.  This is an unprecedented step taken by Govt.  of  India  to  protect  the  farmers'  income  which  is  expected  to  go  a  long  way towards the welfare of farmers.
- (xi) Price Support Scheme  (PSS): Increase in procurement under PSS:The procurement  of  Pulses,  oilseeds  and  copra  at  MSP  under  Price  Support  Scheme (PSS)  has  increased  upto  to  167.05  LMT  during  2014-  15  to  2021-22(  upto 22.07.2021). Moreover, 16.83 LMT of oilseeds had also been procured under Price Deficiency  payment  Scheme  (PDPS)  in  2018-19.  In  addition  to  this  around  15.53 LMT of Pulses has also been procured at MSP under Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) under administrative control of Department of Consumer Affair.
- (xii) Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH): Bee  keeping  has been promoted under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) to increase  the  productivity  of  crops  through  pollination  and  increase  the  honey production as an additional source of income of farmers.
- (xiii) Institutional Credit for Agriculture : To ensure flow of adequate credit, Government sets annual target for the flow of credit to the agriculture sector, Banks have been consistently surpassing the annual target. The agriculture credit flow target has been set at Rs. 13.50 lakh crore for the F.Y. 2019-20, Rs. 15.00 lakh crore for F.Y. 202021and Rs. 16.50 lakh crore for FY 2021-22.
- (xiv) Interest  Subvention  Scheme: Extending  the  reach  of  institutional  credit  to  more and more farmers is priority area of the Government and to achieve this goal, the Government provides interest subvention of 2% on short-term crop loans up to Rs. 3.00 lakh. Presently, loan is available to farmers at an interest rate of 4% per annum on prompt repayment.
- (xv) Further, under Interest Subvention Scheme 2018-19, in order to provide relief to the farmers  on  occurrence  of  natural  calamities,  the  interest  subvention  of  2%  shall continue  to  be  available  to  banks  for  the  first  year  on  the  restructured  amount.  In order  to  discourage distress sale  by farmers and to  encourage them to store their produce in warehouses against negotiable receipts, the benefit of interest subvention will be available to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period of upto six months post harvest on the same rate as available to crop loan.
- (xvi) Kisan Credit Card (KCC): The Government has extended the facility of Kisan Credit Card  (KCC)  to  the  farmers  practicing  animal  husbandry  and  fisheries  related

activities.  All  processing  fee,  inspection,  leger  folio  charges  and  all  other  services charges have been waived off for fresh renewal of KCC. Collateral fee loan limit for short term agri-credit has been raised from Rs. 1.00 lakh to Rs. 1.60 lakh. KCC will be issued within 14 days from the receipt of completed application.

- (xvii) Several  market  reforms  related  programmes  and  policies  have  been  rolled  out  to facilitate farmers and producers with remunerative price for their produce.

## (xviii) Creating of Corpus Fund

- a.  Micro Irrigation Fund - Rs. 10,000 crore
- b.  Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs. One Lakh Crore -
3. (xix) Farmers'  Producer  Companies  (FPOs): Formation  and  Promotion  of  Farmers' Producer Companies (FPOs) to form and promote 10,000 FPOs.

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