Lok Sabha Question No. 420 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Goal of Doubling Farmers' Income
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Smt. Shambhavi, Shri Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, Shri Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil, Shri Naresh Ganpat Mhaske

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 420

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  July 2025

## GOAL OF DOUBLING FARMERS' INCOME

420. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR: SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL: SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE: SMT. SHAMBHAVI:

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

- (a) the details of the major reforms undertaken by the Government during the last Five years to achieve the goal of doubling farmers' income and the steps taken to ensure the  compliance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  Doubling  Farmers'  Income  (DFI) Committee;
- (b)  the  manner  in  which  the  Minimum  Support  Price  (MSP)  and  market  price stabilization  mechanism  in  the  country  compare  with  European  Union  agricultural subsidies and the details of the measures which are being taken to further protect farmers' earnings;
- (c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to promote precision farming and smart agriculture techniques, thereby increasing farmers' profitability by reducing input costs;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  measures  which  have  been  taken  to  improve  cold  storage infrastructure for perishable agricultural commodities to increase farmers income; and
- (e) whether the Government has any future plans to develop such agricultural models in metropolitan areas, given that countries like the Netherlands and Israel are pioneers in urban and vertical farming?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष और ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी

(SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a) : The Government has adopted the vision of Doubling Farmers lncome. An interministerial committee was constituted on 13th April, 2016 to recommend comprehensive strategies for achieving the goal.

The  Government  of  lndia  has  identified  the  following  seven  sources  for enhancing growth of farmers: -

- i. lncrease in crop productivity
- ii. lncrease in livestock productivity
- iii. Resource use efficiency - reduction in cost of production
- iv. lncrease in cropping intensity
- v. Diversification to high value agriculture
- vi. Remunerative prices on farmers' produce
- vii. Shift of surplus manpower from farm to non-farm occupations

To achieve the above seven objectives, Government of lndia supplements the efforts  of  States  through  appropriate  policy  measures  and  budgetary  support  and various  schemes/  programmes.  The  Government  has  substantially  enhanced  the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) from Rs. 21,933.50 crore during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,27,290.16 crore in 2025-26.

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 is at Annexure.

(b):    As per EU website (agriculture.ec.europa.eu), Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of European Union is linked to farmed area and conditionality for compliance with EU rules. Indian system is broad and inclusive, as per national priorities of farmers welfare and self sufficiency in food grains. Besides PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Government fixes Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for mandated crops based on the recommendations of the  Commission  for Agricultural  Costs  &  Prices  (CACP)  after considering  the  views  of  concerned  State  Governments  and  Central  Ministries/ Departments.  The  Union  Budget  for  2018-19  had  announced  the  pre-determined principle  to  keep  MSPs  at  levels  of  one  and  half  times  of  the  cost  of  production. Accordingly, Government had consistently increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other Commercial crops with a minimum margin of 50 percent over all India weighted average cost of production from the year 2018-19 onwards.

Integrated  Scheme  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Annadata  Aay  Sanrakshan  Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) strengthens implementation of MSP and acts as a tool for market price stabilisation.  PM-AASHA  has  components  of  Price  Support  Scheme  (PSS),  Price Deficit Payment Scheme (PDPS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS).

PSS is implemented  on  the  request  of  the  State  Govt./  UT  that  agrees  to exempt from levy of Mandi tax on the procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds and copra and make arrangements like booking of scientific storage facility, identification of procurement centres, arrangement of gunny bags etc.. It is implemented within the stipulated period as and when the market prices of agricultural commodities fall below the notified MSP during peak harvesting period to provide the remunerative price to the farmers. From the procurement year 2024-25, the sanction for the procurement of notified Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS is given to the States/UTs initially upto a  maximum  of  25%  of  the  production  of  the  State  for  that  particular  season. Subsequently, if the State/UT achieves the overall procurement against sanctioned quantity  and  further  intends  to  procure  more  beyond  the  sanctioned  quantity,  the proposal for the procurement under the PSS is considered  upto a maximum of 25% of  the  national production.  In  order  to incentivize the farmers  contributing  in enhancement of domestic production  of pulses  and to  reduce  the  dependence  on imports, the Government has allowed the procurement of Tur, Urad and Masur under PSS equivalent to 100% of the estimated production of the State till 2028-29.

PDPS envisages the direct payment of the price difference between the MSP and the selling / modal price in notified market upto 15% of MSP value (including 2% administrative cost) by the Central Government to the pre-registered farmers selling the oilseeds upto 40% of its production with prescribed Fair Average Quality (FAQ) in the notified market yard through a transparent auction process within the stipulated period. However, the States/UTs have the option to implement either PSS or PDPS for the notified oilseeds for the particular year/season. If any State is willing to cover quantities beyond 40%, it can do so from its resources.

MIS  further enhances  the diversity by supporting the perishable  and horticulture crops that are not covered under above price stabilisation measures. MIS offers  both  physical  as  well  as  price  difference  payment  along  with  a  provision  for storage and transportation of TOP (Tomato, Onion and Potato) crops.

This integrated approach leads to the prevention of distress sale by farmers, ensuring remunerative prices for their produce. It also facilitates the creation of buffer stock  to  address  market  volatility.  Overall,  these  measures  strengthen  farmer confidence in market operations due to the assurance of price support.

( c) :  Precision farming enhances the productivity of agriculture, efficiency of water use  and  farmers  income  on  sustainable  basis  without  any  adverse  impact  on environment.  The  crop  yields  are  reported  to  increase  substantially.  Mission  for Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture  (MIDH)  has  provision  for  establishment  of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in public sector for demonstration of latest technologies ,including precision farming. The technical support for these CoEs, for specific crops and technology is provided by research institutes and through bilateral cooperation with other countries.

Digital Agriculture Mission which enables a robust digital agriculture ecosystem in the country for driving innovative farmer-centric digital solutions and making available timely  and  reliable  crop-related  information  to  farmers.  The  Mission  envisages  the creation  of  Digital  Public  Infrastructure  for  Agriculture  such  as  Agristack,  Krishi Decision Support System, Comprehensive Soil Fertility & Profile Map, and other IT initiatives undertaken by Central Government/State Governments. Agristack project is one of the major components of this Mission, which consists of three foundational registries  or  databases  in  the  agriculture  sector,  i.e.,  the  Farmers'  Registry,  Georeferenced village maps, and the Crop Sown Registry, all created and maintained by the State Governments/Union Territories. This system aims to enhance interoperability and convergence of efforts, fostering the development of applications in the agricultural sector using emerging digital technologies.

Under National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA) program, which is a component under Digital Agriculture Mission, funding is given to State Governments for Digital Agriculture Projects using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IOT), Blockchain etc.

(d) :      Under  the  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF),  support  is  extended  to cold storages in agri-export clusters, at farm gate level, for small and marginal farmers as well as big businesses, APMCs/mandis to reduce post-harvest losses and increase farmers' returns. Entrepreneurs, cooperatives, PACS, and SHGs are actively availing AIF support for establishing cold chain logistics, often integrated with grading, sorting, and packaging units. Till 30.06.2025, 2454 cold storage projects have been sanctioned under AIF with sanctioned amount of ₹8258 crore.

Besides,  under  the  MIDH,  for  holistic  development  of  horticulture  sector, including reducing of harvest and post-harvest losses, financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities . These include setting up of Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, cold storages, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Mission(s) (SHMs).

(e ) :  There is no such proposal as on date.

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## Annexure

## Various Schemes/Programmes of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

1. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)
2. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY)
3. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)/ Restructured Weather Based Crop  Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)
4. Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS)
5. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)
6. Formation and Promotion of 10,000 new Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs)
7. National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)
8. Namo Drone Didi
9. National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)
10. Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)
11. Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises' (AgriSURE)
12. Per Drop More Crop (PDMC)
13. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM)
14. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
15. Soil Health & Fertility (SH&F)
16. Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
17. Agroforestry
18. Crop Diversification Programme (CDP)
19. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
20. Sub-Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP)
21. National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM)
22. Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM)
23. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
24. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm
25. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds
26. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region
27. Digital Agriculture Mission
28. National Bamboo Mission