Lok Sabha Question No. 447 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-05
Subject: Convergence of Schemes to Meet Shortage of Foodgrains
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: (Dr.) Ram Shankar Katheria, Khagen Murmu, Mahabali Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 447 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05/12/2023

## Convergence of Schemes to Meet Shortage of Foodgrains

## 447. DR. RAM SHANKAR KATHERIA: SHRI KHAGEN MURMU: SHRI MAHABALI SINGH :

Will the Minister of COOPERATION ( सहकाįरता मंũी) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Ministry of Cooperation has formulated any scheme to meet the shortages of foodgrains across the country by converging various existing schemes of the Government;
- (b) if so, the names of the schemes which are being converged;
- (c) the level at which the said schemes are likely to be converged; and
- (d) the  details  of  the  benefits  likely  to  be  accrued  to  the  farmers  due  to  the  said convergence?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION

## सहकाįरता मंũी (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a) to (d): Yes, Sir. In order to address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains in the Country, the Government on 31.05.2023, has approved the Plan for the 'World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector', to be rolled out as a Pilot Project. The Plan entails creation of  various  agri  infrastructure  at  PACS  level,  including  warehouses,  custom  hiring  center, processing units, Fair Price Shops, etc. through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government  of  India  (GoI),  such  as,  Agriculture  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF),  Agricultural Marketing  Infrastructure  Scheme  (AMI),  Sub  Mission  on  Agricultural  Mechanization (SMAM)  Pradhan  Mantri  Formalization  of  Micro  Food  Processing  Enterprises  Scheme (PMFME),  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Sampada  Yojana  (PMKSY)  and  Mission  for  Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).

In order to ensure smooth and effective implementation of the plan, Ministry of Cooperation has constituted Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which is authorized to modify guidelines/ implementation methodologies of the schemes identified for convergence, as and when need arises. A National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) has also been constituted having members from Ministry/ Departments, Central Government agencies concerned to steer the overall implementation of the Plan and reviewing the progress of implementation, etc.

In order to monitor the implementation of the project and to ensure its seamless integration with  the  existing  policies/  programmes  at  State  level,  State  Cooperative  Development Committee (SCDC) at State level and District Cooperative Development Committee (DCDC) in each District of the State/UT have also been constituted.

National  Cooperative  Development  Corporation  (NCDC)  with  the  support  of  NABARD, NABARD Consultancy  Services  (NABCONS),  Central  Warehousing  Corporation  (CWC), Food Corporation of India (FCI), National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), etc. is implementing the Pilot Project in different States/ UTs. At present, construction has started in 13 PACS in 13 States/ UTs. States/ Union Territories and various National Level Federations such as National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited (NCCF) have identified 1,711 PACS to be included in the pilot project.

Further, an MoU has also been signed between Ministry of Cooperation (GoI), Department of Food and Public Distribution (GoI), Food Corporation of India (FCI) and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) to ensure full capacity utilization of the storage capacity being created at PACS level under the Project.

By availing the benefits under the schemes being converged at PACS level, PACS will be able to set up godowns for storage of foodgrains and other agri produce, Marketing Sheds, Farm Machinery Banks, Packaging Units, Rice Mills, Flour Mills, etc. The creation of decentralized storage  capacity  at  PACS  level  will  provide  various  benefits  to  the  farmers,  including  the following:

- i. They will be able to store their produce in the godown constructed at PACS and avail bridge finance for the next cycle of crop and sell the produce at a time of their choice, or sell their whole crop to the PACS at Minimum Support Price (MSP), which would enable them to avoid distress sale of crops.
- ii. They will be able to get various agri inputs and services at the Panchayat/ village level itself.
- iii. Through  diversification  of  business,  farmers  will  be  able  to  get  additional sources of income.
- iv. Through integration with the food supply management chain, farmers will be able to expand their market size and realize better value for their produce.
- v. Creation of adequate food grain storage  capacity at PACS  level will  help  in reduction of post-harvest loss, thus enabling farmers to earn better prices.
- vi. Since PACS would be operating as procurement centre as well as Fair Price Shops (FPS), the cost incurred in transportation of food grains to procurement centres and again transporting the stocks back from warehouses to FPS would also be saved.
- vii. In addition to the above, this Plan would help in ensuring food security across the country.

Also, Under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, a new Bhartiya Beej Sahakari Samiti  Limited  (BBSSL)  has  been  set  up  as  an  Umbrella  organization  for  cultivation, production and distribution of improved seeds under a single brand name. This Society will increase availability of improved seeds to the farmers, boost productivity of crops and enhance the income of the farmers. 8,200 applications have been received for membership, till now.

Further, details of initiatives taken by the Ministry of Agriculture for meeting the shortage of foodgrains are enclosed as Annexure .

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## Initiatives taken by Ministry of Agriculture for meeting the shortage of foodgrains

## 1. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme:

AIF  envisages  creation  of  post-harvest  management  infrastructure  and  community farming assets through incentives and financial support. It includes interest subvention of 3% for a loan up to Rs. 2 Crore per project location for 7 years and reimbursement of credit guarantee fee if the project has credit guarantee cover under CGTMSE.

## 2. Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA):

PM-AASHA aims at providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers for produce of notified oilseeds, pulses & copra. It comprises Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) and Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS):

- (i) PSS: It is implemented at the request of the State Government concerned which agrees to exempt the procured commodities of pulses, oilseeds and copra from levy  of  mandi  tax  and  assist  central  nodal  agencies,  in  logistic  arrangements. Procurement of these  commodities are  undertaken  directly  from  pre-registered farmers at MSP as and when prices fall below MSP.
- (ii) PDPS: It  envisages direct payment of the difference between the MSP and the selling/ modal price to pre-registered farmers selling oilseeds of prescribed Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms within the stipulated period in the notified market yard through a transparent auction process.
- (iii) PPSS: The States have the option to implement PPSS for procurement of oilseeds. Such procurement is made from pre-registered farmers on a pilot basis in district/ selected APMC(s) of district

## 3. Market Intervention Scheme (MIS):

MIS  entails  procurement  of  agricultural  and  horticultural  commodities  which  are perishable  in  nature  and  for  which  MSP  is  not  announced,  in  order  to  protect  the growers of these commodities from making distress sale in the event of a bumper crop when prices tend to fall below economic level / cost of production.

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