Lok Sabha Question No. 2739 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-19
Subject: Income of Small and Medium Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Veena Devi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2739

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## INCOME OF SMALL AND MEDIUM FARMERS

2739.     SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ षि एवं षकसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

(a) whether a large-scale investment is being made on agricultural infrastructure to increase the income of small and medium farmers and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether  any  additional  investment  has  been  made  by  the  Government  to increase the income of small and medium farmers of Muzaffarpur, Vaishali districts of Bihar;

- (c)       if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)      whether India has the capacity to be self sufficient in food production and also to meet the food needs of a large part of the world; and
- (e)      if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

क ृ षि एवं षकसान कल्याण मंत्री

(SHRI ARJUN MUNDA)

(a) to (c):    Yes, Sir. In order to increase the income of small and medium farmers, the existing Agriculture Infrastructure gaps are being mitigated by boosting investments for building infrastructure under various Schemes of Government of India such as 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund', Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) etc.

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) is a medium-long term debt financing facility  through  interest  subvention  and  credit  guarantee  support  on  loans  for investment  in viable projects  for  post-harvest  management  infrastructure  and community farming assets.

Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE for loans up to Rs. 2 Crores to the eligible beneficiaries include farmers, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects for creation  of  post-harvest  management  infrastructures  like  Supply  chain  services including  e-marketing  platforms, Warehouses,  Silos,  Pack  houses,  Assaying  units, Sorting & grading units, Cold chains, Logistics facilities, Primary processing centres, Ripening Chambers etc.

Community  farming  assets  eligible  under  Agri  Infra  Fund  includes:  Organic inputs production, Bio stimulant production units, Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture, Projects identified for providing supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops including export clusters, Projects promoted by Central/State/Local Governments or their agencies under PPP for building community farming assets or post-harvest management projects.

Apart  from  AIF,  the  Government  is  also  making  investment  through following schemes for bringing improvements in the Infrastructure Facilities in the Agriculture sector and increasing the income of small and medium farmers:

- (i) Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), a sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) under which assistance is provided for construction/ renovation of godowns/ warehouses in the rural areas in the States to enhance the storage capacity for agriculture produce. AMI is demand driven scheme in which subsidy is provided at the rate of 25% and 33.33% on capital cost of the project based  on  the  category  of  eligible  beneficiary.  Assistance  under  this  scheme  is available  to  Individuals,  Farmers,  Group  of  farmers/growers,  Agri-preneurs, Registered  Farmer  Produce  Organizations  (FPOs),  Cooperatives,  and  state agencies etc. The scheme is demand driven.
- (ii) National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme, a virtual platform integrating physical wholesale mandis/ markets of different States/ Union Territories (UTs) to facilitate online  trading  of  agriculture  and  horticulture  commodities  to  enable  farmers  to realize better remunerative prices for their produce.
- (iii) Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance for setting up of Post-Harvest Management Infrastructure including cold storage, cold room facilities for horticultural produce @ 35% of the project cost in general  areas  and 50%  in  case  of  hilly  and  scheduled  areas  per  beneficiary  is available.  The  component  is  demand/  entrepreneur  driven  through  commercial ventures for which Government assistance is credit linked and back ended.
- (iv) Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which the funds are released to the State Governments as Grants-in-Aid on the basis of projects  in  Agriculture  &  allied  sectors  approved  in  the  State  Level  Sanctioning Committee Meeting (SLSC) headed by the Chief Secretary of the concerned State, which  is  the  empowered  body  to  approve  projects  under  the  scheme.  In  this scheme Sates has flexibility and autonomy in the process of selection, planning, approval  and  execution  projects  in  agriculture  and  allied  sectors  as  per  their priorities.  RKVY  is  primarily  a  project  oriented  scheme,  the  benefit  of  which  is available to all sections of the farming community.

The Schemes aims at increasing the income of farmers by way of:

-  Giving  access  to  improved  marketing  infrastructure  to  allow  farmers  to  sell directly to a larger base of consumers and hence, increase value realization for the farmers.
-  Facilitating investments in logistics infrastructure to enable farmers to sell in the market with reduced post-harvest losses and a smaller number of intermediaries. This further will make farmers independent and improve access to market.
-  Providing  modern  packaging  and  cold  storage  system  access,  to  enable farmers to further decide when to sell in the market and improve realization.
-  Providing  community  farming  assets  at  affordable  cost  on  hire  basis  for improved productivity  and optimization  of  inputs  which  results  in  substantial savings to farmers.
-  Increasing productivity through introduction of improved varieties, quality seeds and planting materials, protected cultivation, high density plantation, rejuvenation, precision farming and horticultural mechanization.
-  Diversification  to  High  Value  Horticulture  for  orchards  and  Plantation  crops, Vineyards, vegetable & flower gardens, Bee keeping, Mushroom cultivation, off season vegetables.
-  Promoting Post Harvest Management through Cold storage (CS), cold chain supply chain including pack houses, ripening chamber, reefer vehicle, etc.
-  Promoting Primary and minimal processing of Horticulture crops.
-  Market  Linkages:  Market  infrastructure  such  as  mobile  vending  cart,  retail outlet, primary and wholesale markets, Creating direct market/farmers market.
-  Aggregating  farmers  into  FPO/FIG  and  promoting  their  tie  up  with  Market Aggregators (MAs) and Financial Institutions (FIs).
-  Skill  Development:  Human  Resource  Development  such  as  awareness programme, farmers training, exposure visit, etc. Providing training on latest technologies  on  production  and  post-harvest  management  to  women  and youth. Converting HRD interventions to Skill Development in Horticulture as per ASCI curriculum.
-  Food  &  Nutritional  Security:  Increasing  Area  and  Production  of  horticulture crops with high nutritional value. Promoting sustainable horticulture.
-  Promotion of INM/IPM, organic farming, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).

The  Schemes  are  for  all  over  country  and  doesn't  focus  on  particular  districts. However, under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, State of Bihar has been tentatively allotted Rs 3980 crore out of the overall target of 1 lakh Crore, which will be disbursed as  loan  by  Banks/Financial  Institutions  .  As  on  8th  December  2023,  34  Nos. infrastructure  units  with  a  sanctioned  loan  of  Rs  13  crore  have  been  set  up  in Muzaffarpur  district  and  20  units  with  a  sanction  of  Rs  29  crore  in  the  district  of Vaishali.

(d) & (e) Yes, Sir. National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007-08 to increase the  production  of  rice,  wheat  and  pulses  through  area  expansion  and  productivity enhancement;  restoring  soil  fertility  and  productivity;  and  enhancing  farm  level economy. During  2022-23,  the  production  of  total  food-grains  was  329.68  million  tonnes comprise of 135.75 million  tonnes  rice,  110.55  million  tonnes  wheat,  57.31  million tonne coarse-cum-nutri cereals and 26.05 million tonne pulses. As per 1 st Advance Estimates 2023- 24, 148.57 million tonne food-grain production has been reported comprising of 106.31 million tonne rice, 35.14 million tonne coarse cum nutri cereals

and 7.12 million tonne pulses.

There  are  new  initiatives  for  increasing  production  and  productivity  of  Pulses  by strengthening of Breeder Seed production of pulses through ICAR, supplying of Seed Minikits of pulses not older than 10 years free of the cost (100% share) to the farmers. Targeting Rice Fallow Area (TRFA) under NFSM Scheme: The TRFA is sub-scheme of National Food Security Mission (NFSM) programme which gives emphasis on land that remains underutilized after harvesting of Kharif paddy crops and aims to bring a change in the cropping pattern during Rabi season by introducing appropriate varieties of pulses that can be cultivated using available moisture.

*****