Lok Sabha Question No. 3188 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-08
Subject: New Scheme in PPP Mode
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Ramesh Chandra Majhi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3188 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 08 th  AUGUST, 2023

## NEW SCHEME IN PPP MODE

3188. SHR RAMESH CHANDRA MAJHI:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ǒष एवं Ǒकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is proposing to launch a new scheme in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) under which farmers will be provided with digital and hi-tech services and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether  the  Government  is  proposing  a  start-up  fund  with  blended  capital facilitated through NABARD for agriculture and rural enterprises and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government has proposed to promote to use of KISHAN DRONES; and the details of other steps being taken by the Government with an emphasis on the

ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ǒष एवं Ǒकसान कãयाण मंğी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a):  Government  has  constituted  a  Screening  Committee  on  leveraging  agriculture innovations for farmer to facilitate combined implementation on pilot scale of selected technologies/interventions by Private companies/ startups to develop and refine products based on field-level observations, data and inferences for a fixed period. Further,  government  has  built  Digital  Public  Infrastructure  for  Agriculture  as  an open source, open standard at interoperable public goods as per budget announcements for the 2023-24.  In this regards, Architecture of three core registries i.e. Farmer registry, Geo referencing of village map registry, crop sown registry has been finalized. These registries  can  be  used  to  develop  various  farmers  centric  solutions  by  the  state governments as well as private sector entities.

- (d) start-up ecosystem in agriculture?
- (b)    Expenditure Finance Committee has approved a Central Sector Scheme for blended Capital Support to finance startups for agriculture and rural enterprise relevant for Farm Produce Value Chain.

(c):  Looking  into  the  unique  advantages  of  Drone  technologies  in  agriculture,  the Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  has  released  the  Standard  Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of drones in pesticide and nutrient application in public domain in December 2021, which provide concise instructions for effective and safe operations of  drones.  In  order  to  make  this  technology  affordable  to  the  farmers  and  other stakeholders  of  this  sector,  financial  assistance  @  100%  for  purchase  of  agricultural drones and its attachments (actual cost of expenditure and its attachments or Rs. 10.00 lakhs, whichever is lower) together with the contingent expenditure is extended under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) to the Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and @ 75% to FPO's for its demonstration on the farmer's fields. In order to provide agricultural services through drone application, financial assistance @ 40% of the basic cost of drone and its attachments or Rs. 4 lakhs, whichever is less also provided for drone purchase by existing and new Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) and also a general category farmers and @ 50% of the basic cost of drone and its attachments or Rs. 5 lakhs for SC/ST/women/small and marginal farmers and the agriculture graduates.

(d):   A component called 'Innovation and Agri-Entrepreneurship Development' has been launched under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) in 2018-19 with the objective  of  promoting  innovation  and  agri-entrepreneurship  by  providing  financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. Under this programme, start-ups are encouraged to use innovative technologies to resolve challenges faced in agriculture and allied sectors. A total of 1176 start-ups have been selected in various areas of agriculture and  allied  sectors  under  this  programme  for  providing  financial  support  through Knowledge  Partners  and  Agri  Business  Incubators  appointed  by  the  Department  for implementation of this programme.

The  Indian  Council  of  Agriculture  Research  (ICAR)  has  been  supporting  Agribased  startups  under  the  project  called  National  Agriculture  Innovation  Fund  (NAIF) initiated in year 2016-2017. It has two components viz. (I) Innovation Fund; (II) Incubation Fund and National Coordinating Unit (NCU):

- (i) Component  I:  10  Zonal  Technology  Management  Units  and  89 Institute

Technology  Management  Units  (ITMUs)  established  in  99  ICAR institutes provide a single-window mechanism to manage innovations,  showcase  intellectual  assets  ,and  pursue  matters related to intellectual property (IP) management and transfer/commercialization of technologies in these institutes.

- (ii) Component II: Agri-business Incubator Centres (ABICs) are set up to speed up the delivery of the new technologies to stake holders. The  ABICs  are  the  nodal  point  to  provide  the  desired  link  for Agriculture Research &Development (R&D) Institutions for incubation/  commercialization  of  the  validated  technologies.  So far,50 Agri-Business Incubation Centers have been established and are operational in the ICAR network under the NAIF scheme.

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