Lok Sabha Question No. 2639 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-14
Subject: Sustainable Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat

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

## LOK SABHA QUESTION NO. 2639

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 th  DECEMBER, 2021

## SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

2639. SHRI  RAMESH SHEWALE: DR.  PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI  CHANDRA SHEKHAR SAHU: SHRI  GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has taken  any measures to make agricultural practices  more sustainable;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to improve irrigation practices to preserve water
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  adopted  any  specific  measures  to  build    resilience  to frequent floods which destroy crops; and
- (e)  if so, the details thereof an if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष और कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR).

- (a)  &  (b):        To  make  agriculture  sustainable  &  climate  resilient  the  National  Mission  for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), one of the eight Missions under the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC), includes programmatic interventions like Soil Health Card (SHC), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), Rainfed Area Development (RAD), National Bamboo Mission  (NBM)  and  Sub-Mission  on  Agro  Forestry  (SMAF)  and    Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi Sinchayee Yojana - Per Drop More Crop (PMKSY - PDMC).

(c),  (d)  &  (e):        To  improve  irrigation  practices  to  preserve  water,  the  Indian  Council  of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has suggested judicious use of water through efficient irrigation techniques  including  micro-irrigation,  rainwater  harvesting  and  recycling,  multiple  use  of water, conjunctive use of rain, surface and groundwater resources, to save irrigation water substantially.  Similarly,  farmers  are  given  advisories  for  adoption  of modern  agronomic practices  like  raised  bed  sowing,  alternate  furrow  irrigation, mulching,  Direct  Seeded  Rice (DSR) through seed drills and drum seeders, System of Rice Intensification (SRI), alternate wetting & drying method, adoption of varieties which require less water, etc. Besides, diversifying  cropping  patterns  from  water  intensive  crops  to  pulses,  oilseeds, maize and agro-forestry is also undertaken. In order to build  resilience to floods, the ICAR under National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is conducting research to  develop/  evaluate flood tolerant varieties  suitable to  be grown in different flood affected areas.  Improved  agronomic  resilient  practices to  overcome    flood  problems  are  being demonstrated under the Technology Demonstration Component of NICRA in vulnerable flood prone districts.  Contingency plans are  developed to give advisories to farmers when flood events occur in different parts of the country.

Flood management is under the purview of the States and  schemes for flood control are  formulated  and  implemented  by  concerned  States  as  per  their  priority.  The  Union Government  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  States  by  providing  technical  guidance  and promotional  financial  assistance  for  management  of  floods  in  critical  areas  including  for destruction of crops.

Integrated  flood  approach  aims  at  adopting  a  judicious  mix  of  structural  and  non  structural measures to provide protection against flood damages.

To  strengthen  the  structural  measures  of  flood  management,  during  XI  &  XII  Plan, Ministry has launched Flood Management  Programme  (FMP)  for providing Central Assistance  to  States  for  works  related  to  flood  management,  flood  control,  anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of  the  "Flood  Management  and  Border  Areas  Programme"  (FMBAP)  for  the  period  from 2017-18 and extended up to December, 2021.

For  non-structural  measures,  the  Central  Water  Commission  (CWC)  is  the  nodal Organization  entrusted  with  the  task  of  flood  forecasting  &  early  flood  warnings  in  the country.

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