Lok Sabha Question No. 1997 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-11
Subject: Organic Farming Support for Small Farmers in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dr. Gumma Thanuja Rani

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1997

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 Th  MARCH, 2025

## ORGANIC FARMING SUPPORT FOR SMALL FARMERS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

1997. DR. GUMMA THANUJA RANI:

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

- (a) the  steps  taken  to  promote  organic  farming  among  small  and  marginal  farmers  in Andhra Pradesh;
- (b) the  details  of  financial  assistance  provided  to  these  farmers,  with  specific  data  on assistance to SC/ST farmers; and
- (c) the initiatives to create market linkages for organic produce from the State?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

(a): Government  is  promoting  organic  farming  in  the  country  through  the  scheme  of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), a component of Pradhan Mantri- Rashtriya Krishi Vikas  Yojana  (PM-RKVY)  including  the  State  of  Andhra  Pradesh.  The  PKVY  scheme provides end-to-end support to organic farmers i.e. from production to processing, certification and marketing in cluster based approach. The primary focus of the scheme is to form organic clusters in a cluster where preference is given to small and marginal farmers to help them to create a supply chain. So far, in Andhra Pradesh 3.61 lakh ha area has been covered under organic farming involving 7.46 lakh farmers under the PKVY scheme including small and marginal farmers.

(b): Under PKVY, States/UTs are provided financial assistance of Rs. 31,500/ha in total in 3  years  in  the  organic  clusters  out  of  which,  Rs.  15,000/ha  is  provided  directly  to  farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for on-farm and off-farm organic inputs, Rs. 4,500/ha for  marketing,  packaging,  branding,  value  addition  etc.,  Rs.  3,000/ha  for  certification  and residue  analysis  and  Rs.  9,000/ha  for  training  and  capacity  building.  Farmers  can  avail maximum 2 ha area.  Since  2015-16,  under  PKVY,  14.99  lakh  ha  area  has  been  covered under organic farming by developing 52289 clusters involving 25.30 lakh farmers including SC/ST  farmers.  As  on  05.03.2025,  total  fund  Rs.  347.91  Crore  has  been  released  since 2015-16,  out  of  which  Rs.  54.49  Crore  has  been  released  for  SC  farmers  and  Rs.  27.64 Crore for ST farmers under PKVY scheme in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

(c): To promote marketing of organic produce two types of organic certifications systems have been developed to ensure quality control of organic produce as given below:

-  Third Party Certification by Accredited Certification Agency under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) scheme under Ministry of Commerce and Industry for development of export market. Under NPOP certification scheme the production and handling of activities at all stages such as production, processing, trading and export requirements for organic products is covered.
-  Participatory Guarantee System (PGS-India) under Ministry of Agriculture and farmers Welfare in which stakeholders (including farmers/ producers) are involved in decision making  about  the  operation  of  the  PGS-India  certification  itself  by  assessing, inspecting and verifying the production practices of each other. PGS-  India certification is to meet the demand of domestic market.

Further, Government has developed web portal- www.Jaivikkheti.in/ as an online market linkage platform for direct sale of organic produce by farmers to the consumers to help them for  better  price  realization.  A  total  of  6.22  lakh  farmers  have  been  registered  under  Jaivik kheti portal.

*******