Lok Sabha Question No. 1242 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-03
Subject: Promoting Organic Farming
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri K Gopinath, Dr. M K Vishnu Prasad

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1242

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 03 RD  DECEMBER, 2024

## PROMOTING ORGANIC FARMING

1242. DR. M K VISHNU PRASAD SHRI K GOPINATH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  measures  that  have  been  taken  for  promoting  organic  farming for improving soil health and water retention  making farms more resilient and dought;
- (b) the initiatives taken for providing real-time data to the farmers, enabling them to make informed decisions about crop selection, sowing schedules and irrigation practices;
- (c) the measures being taken to have a data-driven approach to improve agricultural productivity and mitigate the impact of climate change; and
- (d) the steps being taken for improving efficiency in water use for agriculture and for the promotion of water-efficient technologies?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY)

- ( a): Government  is  promoting  organic  farming  for  improving  soil  health  and  water retention  through  the  schemes  of  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)  in  all  the States/UTs  and  Mission  Organic  Value  Chain  Development  for  North  Eastern  Region (MOVCDNER) exclusively for North Eastern States. Both the schemes stress on end-toend  support  to  farmers  engaged  in  organic  farming  i.e.  from  production  to  processing, certification & marketing and post-harvest management training and capacity building.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research operates All India Network Programme on Organic  Farming  (AINP-OF)  with  20  collaborating  centers  covering  16  States  and  has developed  organic  package  of  practices  for  76  cropping  systems.    The  results  showed improvement of soil physical, chemical and biological properties resulting in better micro environment  for  crop  growth  and  productivity,  compared  to  conventional  farming.  Better resilience of crops to weather extremes have also been observed under organic farming.

(b) & (c): Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has taken various initiatives to build Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for agriculture as an open source, open standard and interoperable public good through various digital initiatives, such as:

AgriStack: Under the Agristack initiative, the Government  has initiated the development of three core registries,  viz.  Farmers  Registry  (Registry  of  Farmers),  GeoReferenced  Village  maps  (of  the  Farmland  plots)  and  Crop  Sown  Registry  through  the Digital Crop Survey (DCS).

DCS allows capturing of crop being grown and irrigation sources/ methods being used on a parcel of land. This allows the government to understand ground truthing real time data that allows planning to:1.  Crop diversification 2. Millet promotion  3. Procurement planning 4. Identify risk prone areas and plan intervention accordingly.

Under  this  project,  a  detailed  soil  profile  study  is  being  carried  out  to  create standardized soil maps for rational land use and crop planning, thus promoting sustainable agriculture.

A data driven approach, is being followed to improve agricultural productivity and mitigate  climate  change.  In  this  regard  risk  and  vulnerability  assessment  of  Indian Agriculture to climate change was undertaken by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), under National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA).

During last 10 years (2014-2024), a total of 2593 varieties have been released by ICAR, out of these 2177 varieties have been found tolerant to one or more biotic and/or abiotic stresses.

To enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of farmers to climate variability, 448 Climate Resilient Villages has been established in 151 climatically vulnerable districts under NICRA programme. In addition, capacity building programmes are being conducted to all the stakeholders on various aspects of climate change.

(d): Government is implementing Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) scheme in the Country under  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  focusing  on  enhancing  water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation, namely, Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation systems.  The  Micro  Irrigation  helps  in  water  saving  as  well  as  reduced  fertilizer  usage through fertigation, labour expenses, other input costs and overall income enhancement of farmers. Financial Assistance @ 55% for Small & Marginal farmers and @ 45% for other farmers is provided for installation of Micro Irrigation.

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