Lok Sabha Question No. 229 (STARRED), answered on 2023-12-19
Subject: Increasing Income from Agriculture
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.229

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## INCREASING INCOME FROM AGRICULTURE

- *229. SHRI NIHAL CHAND: SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  the  income  from agriculture in the country;
- (b) whether migration of people to other sectors for employment other than farming has reduced as a result thereof;
- (c) if so, the details thereof including the State of Chhattisgarh;
- (d) the details of the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to provide agriculture loans to the farmers;
- (e) the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to make agriculture a profitable business and to waive farmers loans; and
- (f) the details of the schemes being implemented by the Government to promote cash crops?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी

(SHRI ARJUN MUNDA)

(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the house.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  229  REGARDING  'INCREASING  INCOME  FROM AGRICULTURE' FOR REPLY ON 19 TH  DECEMBER, 2023.

(a)  to  (c):          Government  of  India  has  identified  the  following  seven  sources  for enhancing income growth of farmers: -

- i. Increase in crop productivity
- ii. Increase in livestock productivity
- iii. Resource use efficiency - reduction in cost of production
- iv. Increase 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 India supplements the efforts  of  States  and  welfare  of  farmers  through  appropriate  policy  measures  and budgetary support and various schemes/ programmes. In the year 2013-14 the budget allocation for Department of Agriculture & Cooperation including DARE was only Rs. 27,662.67 crore. The budget of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare including DARE is Rs. 1,25,035.79 crore in 2023-24.

Agriculture and welfare of farmers are major concern for Government of India. In 2015 the name of the ministry has been re-designated as Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare with the main objective of working for welfare of farmers.  Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare as well as other stakeholder Ministries like Ministry of  Cooperation,  Department  of  Animal  Husbandry  and  Dairying,  Department  of Fisheries and Ministry of Rural Development etc have launched various schemes/programmes to make agriculture more remunerative and farmers may get maximum benefit.

Enhanced  budgetary  provisions  have  been  made  to  facilitate  the  below mentioned  efforts  of  the  Government.  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, which include:

1.  Income support to farmers through PM KISAN
2.  Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)
3.  Institutional credit for agriculture sector
4.  Fixing of Minimum Support Price (MSP) at one-and-a half times the cost of production
5.  Promotion of organic farming in the country
6.  Per Drop More Crop
7.  Micro Irrigation Fund
8.  Promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
9.  National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)
10.  Agricultural Mechanization
11.  Namo Drone Didi
12.  Providing Soil Health Cards to farmers
13.  Setting up of National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) extension Platform
14.  Launch of the National Mission for Edible Oils - Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
15.  Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF)
16.  Improvement in farm produce logistics, Introduction of Kisan Rail.
17.  Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture ( MIDH) -Cluster Development Programme:
18.  Creation of a Start-up Eco system in agriculture and allied sector
19.  Achievement in Export of Agri and Allied Agri- Commodities

The  benefit  accruing  from  the  above  schemes  are  summarized  in  terms  of achievement is at Annexure-I .

Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  released  a  book,  which contains  compilation  of  success  stories  of  75,000  farmers  out  of  innumerable successful farmers who have increased their income more than two times.

The expenditure on farmer's welfare in the country has improved manifold in 2022-23 i.e. 6.5 lakh crore was spent in this year alone. Details of spending as per Revised Estimate by the Central Government during 2022-23 on agriculture and allied sectors for welfare of farmers are at Annexure-II.

(d): Government announces annual target for agriculture credit in the budget every year.  Ground  Level  Credit  (GLC)/  Agricultural  credit  flow  has  shown  consistent progress every year. The agriculture credit flow target for the year 2022-23 was fixed at Rs. 18,50,000 crores and against this target the achievement was Rs. 21,55,163 crores.  Further,  as  per  RBI  directions,  domestic  Scheduled  Commercial  Banks, Foreign Banks with more than 20 branches, Regional Rural Banks and Small Finance Banks are required to lend 18% of the Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent to Off-Balance  Sheet  Exposure  (CEOBE), whichever is higher, towards agriculture. A sub-target of 10% is also prescribed for lending to small and marginal farmers  including  landless  agricultural  labourers,  tenant  farmers,  oral  lessees  and sharecroppers in a phased manner.

Currently, a  KCC Saturation drive i.e. 'Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyan' has been launched with special focus to saturate PM KISAN beneficiaries to extend the benefit of KCC and interest subvention to the maximum farmers.

- (e): There is no proposal under consideration for waiver of farm loans.
- (f):          Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  is  implementing  scheme  on commercial  crops  viz.,  cotton,  jute  &  allied  fibres  and sugarcane  in  19  states viz., Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,  Meghalaya,  Nagaland,  Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil  Nadu, Telangana,  Tripura,  Uttar  Pradesh,  Uttarakhand  and  West  Bengal for  enhancing production & productivity under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) from 201415. Under  this  scheme,  thrust  has  been  given  on  transfer  of  technology  through frontline  demonstrations  and  training  in  order  to  extend  benefits  to  the  farmers. Allocation (central share) made to the states under the scheme during last 3 years & current year is given below:

(Rs in crores)

| Year    |   Allocation |
|---------|--------------|
| 2020-21 |        32.42 |
| 2021-22 |        32.62 |
| 2022-23 |        36.92 |
| 2023-24 |        41.66 |

## 1. Income support to farmers through PM KISAN

Launch of PM-KISAN in 2019 -an income support scheme providing Rs. 6000 per year in 3 equal installments. More than Rs . 2.81 lakh crore has been released so far to more than 11 crore farmers as on 30.11.2023.

## 2. Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY)

Seven year (Provisional) - PMFBY was launched in 2016 addressing problems of high premium rates for farmers and reduction in sum insured due to capping. In past 7 Years of implementation - 49.44 crore farmer applications enrolled and over 14.06 crore  (Provisional)  farmer  applicants  have  received  claims  of  over  Rs.  1,46,664 crore.   During this period nearly Rs. 29,183 crore were paid by farmers as their share of premium against which claims over Rs. 1,46,664 crore (Provisional) have been paid to them.   Thus for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about  Rs. 502  as claims.

## 3. Institutional credit for agriculture sector

- i. Increased from Rs. 7.3 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 21.55 lakh crore in 202223.
- ii. Benefit  of  concessional  institutional  credit  through  KCC  at  4%  interest  per annum  has  also  now  been  extended  to  Animal  Husbandry  and  Fisheries farmers for meeting their short-term working capital needs.
- iii. A  special  drive  has  been  undertaken  since  February  2020  to  provide concessional institutional credit with focus on covering all  PM-KISAN beneficiaries through Kisan Credit Cards (KCC). As on 20-10-2023, 482.73 lakh new KCC applications have been sanctioned with a sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 5,47,819 crore as part of the drive.

## 4. Fixing of Minimum Support Price (MSP) at one-and-a half times the cost of production -

- i. Government has increased the MSP for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of at least 50 per cent over all India weighted average cost of production from 2018-19.
- ii. MSP for Paddy (common) has increased to Rs. 2,183 per quintal in 2023-24 from Rs. 1,310 per quintal in 2013-14.
- iii. MSP for Wheat increased from Rs. 1,400 per quintal in 2013-14 to Rs. 2,275 per quintal in 2023-24.

## 5. Promotion of organic farming in the country

- i. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) was initiated in 2015-16 to promote organic farming in the country. 32,384 clusters have been formed and an area of  6.53  lakh  hectare  has  been  covered  benefitting  16.19  lakh  farmers.  In

addition, Under Namami Gange Programme 1.23 lakh hectare area covered and under natural farming 4.09 lakh hectare area covered.

- ii. Government  also  proposes  to  promote  sustainable  natural  farming  systems through the scheme Bhartiya Prakratik Krishi Padhati (BPKP). The proposed scheme aims at cutting down cost of cultivation, enhancing farmer's income and ensuring resource conservation and, safe and healthy soils, environment and food.
- iii. Mission Organic Value Chain Development in North East Region (MOVCDNER)  has  been  launched.  379  Farmer  Producer  Companies  have been  formed  comprising  of  189039  farmers  and  covering  1,72,966  hectare area.

## 6. Per Drop More Crop:

Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) scheme was launched in the year 2015-16 which aims  to  increase  water  use  efficiency,  reducing  cost  of  inputs  and  increasing productivity  at  the  farm  level  through  Micro  Irrigation  technologies  i.e.  drip  and sprinkler irrigation systems. So far, an area of 81.87 lakh hectare has been covered under Micro irrigation through the PDMC scheme from the year 2015-16 and central assistance of Rs. 18,893.74 crore has been released.

## 7. Micro Irrigation Fund:

A Micro Irrigation Fund of initial corpus Rs 5,000 crore has been created with NABARD.  In the Budget Announcement for 2021-22, the corpus of the fund is to be increased to Rs.10,000 crores. Projects worth Rs 4,710.96 crore have been approved so far.

## 8. Promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

- i. A new Central Sector Scheme for Formation & Promotion of new 10,000 FPOs launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister on 29th February, 2020 with budget outlay of Rs 6,865 Crore till 2027-28.
- ii. As  on  31.10.2023,  7,476  no.  of  FPOs  have  been  registered  under  new  FPO scheme.
- iii. Equity Grant of Rs. 113.68 Crore has been released to 2,663 FPOs.
- iv. Credit Guarantee Cover worth Rs. 213.82 Cr. issued to 918 FPOs

9. The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM ) was launched in 2020 as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with an outlay of Rs. 500.00 crores for the period of 3 years, i.e., 2020-21 to 2022-23, and the scheme has been extended for next three years, i.e., 2023-24 to 2025-26, with the remaining available budget of Rs. 370.00 crores  from  the  allocated  budget  of  Rs.  500.00  crores  for  the  overall  promotion  and development of scientific beekeeping and to achieve the goal of "Sweet Revolution".

## 10. Agricultural Mechanization :

Agricultural  mechanization  is  extremely  vital  to  modernize  agriculture  and reduce drudgery of farming operations. During the period from 2014-15 to March, 2023 an amount of Rs.6405.55 crore have been allocated for agricultural mechanization. 15,23,650numbers of machines and equipments have been provided to farmers on subsidy.     23,018  custom  hiring  centers,  475  high-tech  hubs  and  20,461  farm machinery banks have been established to make available agricultural machines and equipments to the farmers on rental basis.  During 2023-24, Rs.252.39 Crore have been released to States for distribution of 37937 nos. of agricultural machinery ,for establishment of 1916 custom Hiring Centres, 41 Hi-Tech Centres and 82 nos. of Farm Machinery Banks.

## 11. Namo Drone Didi:

The  Government  has  also  recently  approved  Central  Sector  Scheme  for providing drones to the Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) with an outlay of Rs. 1261 Crores.  The  scheme  aims  to  provide  drones  to  15000  selected  Women  SHGs for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purpose (application of fertilizers and pesticides). Of the total 15,000 drones, first 500 drones will be procured by Lead Fertilizer Companies (LFCs) in 2023-24, using their internal resources for distribution to selected SHGs. Remaining  14500 drones will be provided under this scheme and Central Financial Assistance @ 80% of the cost of drone and accessories/ancillary charges up to a maximum of Rs. 8.0 lakhs will be provided to the women SHGs  for purchase of drones. The Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) of SHGs may raise the balance amount (total cost of  procurement  minus  subsidy) as  loan  under  National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility (AIF).  Interest subvention @ 3% on the AIF loan will be provided to the CLFs. The scheme will help in infusing advance technology in agriculture for improved efficiency, enhanced crop yield and reduced cost of operation for  the  benefit  of  farmers.  The  scheme  will  also  provide  sustainable  business  and livelihood support to SHGs and they would be able to earn additional income of at least Rs. 1.0 lakh per annum.

## 12. Providing Soil Health Cards to farmers :

Soil Health Card Scheme was introduced in the year 2014-15 to optimize usage of nutrients. The following numbers of cards have been issued to farmers:

- i.Cycle-I (2015 to 2017) - 10.74 crore
- ii.  Cycle-II (2017 to 2019)- 12.19 crore
- iii.  Model Village Programme (2019-20)- 23.71 lakh
- iv.In the year 2020-21- 11.52 lakh

## 13. Setting up of National Agriculture Market ( e-NAM) extension Platform

- i. 1388 Mandis of 23 States and 04 UTs have been integrated to e-NAM platform. (27 additional mandis have been integrated with e NAM which included J&K (6) Madhya Pradesh (3) Maharashtra (14) Uttrakhand  (4).
- ii. As  on  31 st   Oct  2023,    1.76  crore    Farmers  &    2,49,903  traders  have  been registered  on  e-NAM  portal.  Total  volume  of  8.47  Crore  MT  &  29.25  Crore

numbers  (bamboo,  betel  leaves,  coconut,  lemon  &  sweet  corn)  collectively worth approximately Rs. 2.98 lakh crore of trade has been recorded on e-NAM platform.

## 14. Launch of the National Mission for Edible Oils - Oil Palm

A new Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely, National Mission on Edible Oil (NMEO)-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) has been launched during Auguest,2021 with the aim to  enhance  the  edible  oils  availability  in  the  country  by  harnessing  Oil  Palm  area expansion, increasing CPO production and to reduce the import burden on edible oil. The Mission will bring additional area of 6.5 lakh ha under Oil Palm plantation with 3.28 lakh ha in north-eastern states and 3.22 in Rest of India with a total outlay of Rs. 11,040 crore in next 5 years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

## 15. Agri Infrastructure Fund (AIF) :

A one Lakh Crore,Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme was launched with an objective to mobilize a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets  through  incentives  and  financial  support  in  order  to  improve  agriculture infrastructure in the country. Interest Subvention and Credit Guarantee supports are being provided under Agri Infra Fund.

## 16. Improvement in farm produce logistics, Introduction of Kisan Rail.

Kisan Rail has been launched by Ministry of Railways to exclusively cater to movement of perishable agri-horti commodities. First Kisan Rail was started in July 2020. Till 28 th  February, 2023, 2359 services on 167 routes have been operated.

## 17. MIDH - Cluster Development Programme:

Details  of  physical  progress  under  the  major  components  of  NHM/HMNEH scheme of MIDH from 2014-15 to 2023-24 (as on 31.10.2023) is as under:

-  Area Expansion: - An additional area of 12.95 lakh ha. of identified horticulture crops has been covered.
-  Nurseries:  -  872  nurseries  have  been  established  for  production  of  quality planting material.
-  Rejuvenation: - An area of 1.41 lakh ha. of old and senile orchards has been rejuvenated.
-  Organic Farming: - An area of 52069 ha. been covered under organic practices.
-  Protected  Cultivation:  -  An  area  of  3.07  lakh  ha.  has  been  covered  under Protected Cultivation.
-  Water Resources: - 49979 water-harvesting structures have been created.
-  Beekeeping: - 15.93 lakh bee colonies with hives have been distributed.
-  Horticulture  Mechanization:  -2.60  lakh  horticulture  mechanization  equipment have been distributed.
-  Post-Harvest Management Infrastructures: - 1.14 lakh post-harvest units have been established.
-  Market Infrastructures: - 14349 market infrastructures have been set up.
-  Training of Farmers: - Under HRD, 9.11 lakh farmers have been trained under various horticulture activities.

## 18. Creation of a Start-up Eco system in agriculture and allied sector

So far, 1259 Start-ups during FY 2019-20 to 2023-24 have been selected by different Knowledge Partners (KPs) and Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) working in agriculture  &  allied  sector.    Rs.  83.67 crore  as  grants-in-aid  has  been  released  in instalments to the respective KPs & R-ABIs for funding to these Start-ups under RKVY Agri-startup Programme of Department of Agriculture & FW.

## 19. Achievement in Export of Agri and Allied Agri- Commodities

The  country  has  witnessed  emphatic  growth  in  export  of  agri  and  allied commodities. As compared to year 2020-21, the Agri and allied export has increased from 41.86 billion USD in 2020-21 to 50.24 billion USD in 2021-22 i.e. an increase of 19.99%.

Details of spending as per Revised Estimate by the Central Government during 202223 on agriculture and allied sectors for welfare of farmers are as follows;

| Item of Expenditure                                  |   Amount (Rs in crore) |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
| Fertilizer subsidy                                   |                 225220 |
| Food subsidy                                         |                 287194 |
| Agriculture & allied activities (Excluding PM-KISAN) |                  76279 |
| PM-KISAN                                             |                  60000 |
| Total                                                |                 648693 |

Besides, there are many Schemes implemented by other Ministries and Departments of the Government of India where majority of the beneficiaries are farmers (RE 202223)

| Sl No.   | Department/ Scheme                                                    | Amount in crore)                | (Rs                             |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
| 1        | Department of Rural Development                                       | Department of Rural Development | Department of Rural Development |
| i        | Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Rural (PMAY)                              | 48,422                          |                                 |
| ii       | Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)                              | 19,000                          |                                 |
| iii      | Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MNREGS) | 89400                           |                                 |
| iv       | National Social Assistance Programme (Pension)                        | 9,652                           |                                 |
| v        | National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM)                              | 13336.42                        |                                 |
| 2        | Ministry of Jal Shakti                                                | Ministry of Jal Shakti          |                                 |
| i        | Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)                          | 7084.50                         |                                 |
| ii       | Jal Jeevan Mission/ National Rural Drinking Water Programme           | 54808.87                        |                                 |
| 3        | Department of Fisheries                                               | 1624.18                         |                                 |
| 4        | Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying                           | 3105.17                         |                                 |
|          | Total                                                                 | 2,46,433.14                     |                                 |

Among the Ministries which constitute allied sectors of agricultural sector and their achievements are given below:

- I. Ministry of Cooperation is at Annexure-A
- II. Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying is at Annexure-B
- III. Department of Fisheries is at Annexure-C

## Ministry of Cooperation

- A.  Making Primary Cooperatives economically vibrant and transparent
1.  Model Bye-Laws for PACS making them multipurpose, multidimensional  and  transparent entities :  Model  Byelaws  have  been adopted by 31 States/ UTs so far.
2.  Strengthening  of  PACS  through  Computerization :  A  total  of  62,318 PACS  from  28  States/  UTs  have  been  sanctioned  under  the  project. Software is ready and trials have already started in 5,673 PACS in 26 States/ UTs so far.
3.  New  Multipurpose  PACS/  Dairy/  Fishery  Cooperatives  in  uncovered Panchayats :  As  reported  by  the  States/  UTs,  the  process  for  registering 9,961 new PACS/ Dairy/ Fishery cooperative societies in 23 States/ UTs is in various stages.
4.  World's  Largest  Decentralized  Grain  Storage  Plan  in  Cooperative sector : 22 States/ UTs and National level Cooperative Federations such as National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), have identified 1,711 PACS for creation of storage capacity under the Pilot Project. At present, construction is going in 13 PACS of 13 States/ UTs under the Pilot Project.
5.  PACS  as  Common  Service  Centers  (CSCs)  for  better  access  to  eservices : So far, 24,470 PACS have started providing CSC services to the rural citizens which will also result in increase in income of those PACS at the same time.
6.  Formation of  new  Farmer  Producer  Organizations  (FPOs)  by  PACS : Government has allowed 1,100 additional FPOs to be formed.
7.  PACS given priority for Retail Petrol/ Diesel outlets :  Government  has allowed  PACS  to  be  included  in  the  Combined  Category  2  (CC2)  for allotment of retail petrol/ diesel outlets. As per information received from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), a total of 228 PACS have applied online for retail petrol/ diesel outlets.
8.  PACS given permission to convert bulk consumer petrol pumps into

## Annexure-A

- retail outlets : 109 PACS from 5 States having wholesale consumer pumps have given consent for conversion into Retail Outlets, out of which 43 PACS have received Letter of Intent (LOI) from the OMCs.
9.  PACS  eligible  for  LPG  Distributorship  for  diversifying  its  activities : Government has now allowed PACS to apply for LPG Distributorships.
10.  PACS as PM Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra for improving access to generic medicines at rural level : So far, 4,289 PACS/ cooperative societies have applied online for PM Janaushadhi Kendras, out of which 2,293 PACS have been given initial approval also.
11.  PACS as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Kendras (PMKSK): As per the information shared by States/ UTs, 28,648 PACS are functioning as PMKSK so far.
12.  Convergence  of  PM-KUSUM  at  PACS  level :  Farmers  associated  with PACS  can  adopt  solar  agricultural  water  pumps  and  install  photovoltaic modules in their farms.
13.  PACS to carry out O&M of rural piped water supply schemes (PWS) : As per information received from States/UTs, 1,381 PACS have been identified by 12 States/ UTs to provide O&M services at Panchayat/ Village level.
14.  Micro-ATMs to Bank Mitra Cooperative Societies for providing doorsteps financial services :  As a pilot project, 1,723 Micro-ATMs have been  distributed  to  Bank  Mitra  cooperative  societies  in  Panchmahal  and Banaskantha Districts of Gujarat.
15.  Rupay Kisan Credit Card to Members of Milk Cooperatives : As  a  pilot project,  73,503  Rupay  KCC  have  been  distributed  in  Panchmahal  and Banaskantha Districts of Gujarat.
16.  Formation  of  Fish  Farmer  Producer  Organization  (FFPO) :  NCDC has registered 69 FFPOs  in  the initial phase. Department  of  Fisheries, Government  of  India  has  further  allocated  conversion  of  1000  existing fisheries cooperative societies into FFPOs to NCDC, with an approved outlay of Rs 225.50 crore.
- B.  Strengthening the Rural Cooperative Banks
17.  Cooperative banks have been allowed to make one-time settlement of outstanding loans, like Commercial Banks: Co-operative banks, through board- approved policies, can now provide process for technical write-off as
- well as settlement with borrowers.
18.  Individual housing loan limit more than doubled by RBI for Rural Cooperative Banks : Housing loan limit of Rural cooperative banks has been increased to two and a half times to Rs 75 lakh.
19.  Rural Co-operative Banks will now be able to lend to commercial real estate/ residential housing sector, thereby diversifying their business :
20.  License fee reduced for Cooperative Banks .
21.  Monetary  ceiling  doubled  by  RBI  for  Gold  Loan: RBI  has  doubled monetary ceiling from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs.4 lakh, for those UCBs that meet the PSL targets.

## Animal Husbandry & Dairying

- (i) Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) to enhance milk production and productivity of bovines and to make milk production more remunerative to the farmers.
- (ii) National Programme for Dairy Development to create dairy infrastructure for procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk products.
- (iii) For the first time the KCC Scheme is extended for all farmers involved in animal husbandry sector.
- (iv) Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) worth Rs. 15000 crore to facilitate incentivisation of investments in Animal Husbandry sector.
- (v) National  Livestock  Mission  is  focusing  on  enhancing  productivity  of  small ruminants and entrepreneurship Development in livestock sector.
- (vi) Livestock  Health  and  Disease  Control  (LH  &  DC)  to  provide  assistance  for control  of  animal  diseases  like  Foot  and  Mouth  Disease,  Brucellosis  and  also  to provide assistance to State Governments for Control of other infectious diseases of livestock. Mobile Veterinary Units are established under the scheme to deliver quality livestock health services at farmers doorstep.

## Department of Fisheries

1. Creation  of  New  Ministry  for  Fisheries,  Animal  Husbandry  and  Dairying: Recognizing the immense potential of the Fisheries Sector and for focused and holistic development of the sector with fishers and fish farmers' welfare at the core, the  Government  of  India  created  a separate  Department  of  Fisheries  in February,  2019 and  this  was  followed  up  by  creation  of  a new  Ministry  of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in June, 2019.
2. Highest  ever  investments  in  fisheries  sector: During  last 9 years, the Government  of  India  has  stepped  up  investments  in  fisheries  and  aquaculture sector. From 2015, the central government has approved or announced cumulative investments to the tune of Rs 38,572 crore . These include:
- a)  Rs. 5,000 crore investment under Blue Revolution Scheme;
- b)  Rs. 7,522 crore Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF);
- c)  Rs. 20,050 crore investment under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana;
- d)  Rs 6,000 crore Sub-scheme under PMMSY, announced in Union Budget 202324

The Flagship Scheme Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) is under  implementation  since  FY  2020-21  and  it  is,  by  far,  the  highest  ever investment in Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector in the country.

3. Record  National  Fish  Production :  During  the  last  9  years,  the  annual  fish production of India has increased from 95.79 lakh tons (at the end of FY 2013-14) to an all-time record of 175.45 lakh tons in 2022-23.
4. Doubling of Inland and Aquaculture Production :  Fish production from inland fisheries and aquaculture increased from mere 2.18 lakh tons in FY 1950-51 to 131.13 lakh tons in FY 2022-23 which has doubled from 61.36 lakh tons at the end of FY 2013-14 to 121.12 lakh tons at the end of FY 2021-22.
5. Doubling of Seafood Exports: Indian seafood is exported to 129 countries with largest importer being USA. In fact, the value of the cumulative exports for the 9year period of FY 2014-15 to FY 2022-23 stood at Rs. 3.41 lakh crore as against Rs 1.20 lakh crore for the 9-year preceding FY 2014-15 i.e. the period FY 200506 to 2013-14.
6. Doubling of Brackish Water Aquaculture Production : The shrimp production of the country increased by 267% from 3.22 lakh tons at the end of FY 2013-14 to a record 11.84 lakh tons (provisional figures) at the end of FY 2022-23.  Similarly, the shrimp exports have more than doubled with an increase of 123% from Rs.

19,368 crore at the end of FY 2013-14 to Rs 43,135 crore at the end of FY 202223.

7. Sustained Growth Rate and Increased Contribution of Fisheries Sector in National Gross Value Add (GVA) and Agriculture GVA: The fisheries sector in India has shown a sustained annual average growth rate of 8.61% for the 8-year period  from  FY  2014-15  to  FY  2021-22  (at  constant  prices).  During  eight-year period from FY 2014-15 to FY 2021-22, the GVA of Fisheries Sector has increased from Rs. 76,487 crore in FY 2013-14 to 1,47,518.87 crore (at constant prices) and from 98,189.64 crore in FY 2013-14 to 2,88,526.19 crore in FY 2021-22 (at current prices).
8. Institutional  Credit  through  Kisan  Credit  Card  (KCC)  for  Fishers  and  Fish farmers: The Government of India extended the KCC facility to fishers and fish famers from the financial year FY 2018-19 to help them meet their working capital requirements. Till date, 1.70 lakh KCC cards have been issued to fishers and fish farmers.

Focus on creation of Infrastructure in Fishing Harbours (FHs) and Fish Landing Centres (FLCs): During the last 9 years, the Government of India approved project proposals  for  construction/modernization  of  107  Fishing  Harbours  and  Fishing Landing Centers under Blue Revolution Scheme,  Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure  Development  Fund  (FIDF);  and  Pradhan  Mantri  Matysa  Sampada Yojana.

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