Lok Sabha Question No. 557 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Suicides by Farmers and Farm Workers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: D. M. Kathir Anand

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 557

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2024

## SUICIDES BY FARMERS AND FARM WORKERS

557. SHRI D.M. KATHIR ANAND:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष और ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a true the incidence of suicides by farmers and farm workers has remained high in the last nine years between 2014 and 2023 as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data;

(b) if so, the suicides reported in the last nine years, State and year-wise;

(c) whether the Government is aware of the farmers committing suicide due to mounting debts and crop loss;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the effective steps taken by the Government to mitigate the farmer's crisis and safeguard their lives; and

- (e) whether any financial support provided to farmers and farmers welfare in the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी

(SHRI ARJUN MUNDA)

- (a) to (e)   The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs compiles and disseminates information on suicides in its publication titled 'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India'(ADSI). The  report till  2022 is available on  NCRB  website (https://ncrb.gov.in). In the ADSI Reports, separate reason for farmers suicide have not been given.

Agriculture  being  a  State  Subject,  Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of States through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support and various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India for the welfare to make farming more remunerative and make the farmers financially more secure are as under:

## 1. Unprecedented enhancement in budget allocation

The  Government  has  substantially  enhanced  the  budget  allocation  of  Ministry  of Agriculture  &  Farmers  Welfare  from  Rs.  27,662.67 crore BE  during  2013-14  to  Rs. 1,25,035.79 crore BE during 2023-24.

## 2. 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.

## 3. 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.

DigiClaimFor transparency in calculation and payment of claims, Claim Payment Module to workout claims and to transfer these claims directly to the farmer's account is being done through National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) using PFMS platform. This initiative has been launched on 23rd March, 2023 for implementation from Kharif  2022 season claims onwards. All the claims are now been paid by insurance companies directly to farmers account through Digiclaim.

## 4. Institutional credit for agriculture sector

- i. Increased from Rs. 7.3 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 21.55 lakh crore in 2022-23.
- 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 05.01.2024, 465.42 lakh new KCC applications have been sanctioned with a sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 5,69,974 crore as part of the drive.

## 5. 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.

## 6. 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.

## 7. 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.

## 8. 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.

## 9. 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 31.12.2023, 7,774 no. of FPOs have been registered under new FPO scheme.
- iii. Equity Grant of Rs. 129.5 Crore has been released to 2,933 FPOs.
- iv. Credit Guarantee Cover worth Rs. 226.7 Cr. issued to 994 FPOs

10. 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 crore 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 crore from the allocated budget of Rs. 500.00 crore for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping and to achieve the goal of "Sweet Revolution".

## 11. 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.

## 12. 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.

## 13. 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.

ii.

iii.

iv.

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

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

- i. 1389 Mandis of 23 States and 04 UTs have been integrated to e-NAM platform. (28 additional mandis have been integrated with e NAM which included J&K (6) Madhya Pradesh (3) Maharashtra (15) Uttrakhand  (4).
- ii. As on 31 st  Dec 2023,  1.76 crore  Farmers &  2.50 Lakh traders have been registered on e-NAM portal. Total volume of 8.96 Crore MT & 30.99 Crore numbers (bamboo, betel leaves, coconut, lemon & sweet corn) collectively worth approximately Rs. 3.19 lakh crore of trade has been recorded on e-NAM platform.

## 15. 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 August, 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 lakh ha in Rest of India with a total outlay of Rs. 11,040 crore in next 5 years from 202122 to 2025-26.

## 16. KISAN Credit Card (KCC):

Department  of  Agriculture  &  Farmers'  Welfare  is  implementing  Modified  Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS), a Central Sector Scheme, with a view to provide short term Agriloans availed by farmers through KCC for their working capital requirements at concessional rate of interest. Under this scheme, farmers are given KCC loan at subvented interest rate of 7%. For this, at present, interest subvention of @1.5% is being given to financial institutions. Therefore,  short  term  loans  for  Agriculture  and  other  allied  activities  including  animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries etc. upto Rs. 3.00 lakh is available to farmers at an interest rate of 7% per annum. Additional 3% prompt repayment incentive (PRI) is also given to the farmers for prompt and timely repayment of loans; thus reducing the effective rate of interest to 4% per  annum.  In  case  of  short  term  loan  availed  for  allied  activities  only  (other  than  crop husbandry), the loan amount upto Rs. 2.00 lakh is available at the rate of 7%. Additional 3% PRI is also available on it.

To bring the maximum number of farmers under KCC so that they can get loan at a cheaper rate from institutional banking system, the Government has been running a campaign for  Saturation  of  KCC  to  farmers  since  February,  2020  to  cover  all  left  over  farmers  with special focus on PM KISAN beneficiaries.

Under Atma Nirbar Bharat package, a target to cover 2.5 crore farmers with credit flow of about Rs.2.00 lakh crores was set. Special drive was undertaken to provide Kisan Credit Cards  to  eligible  and  willing  farmers  with  special  focus  on  PM  KISAN  beneficiaries.  This enabled such farmers to gain access to institutional credit at concessional interest rate. Target to cover 2.5 crore farmers was achieved on 15.10.2021 and as on 05.01.2024, 465.42 lakh new KCC applications have been sanctioned with a sanctioned credit limit of Rs. 5,69,974 crore as part of the drive. Budget estimate for MISS under which KCC scheme operates has been allocated Rs. 23000 crores for the year 2023-24.

A revised KCC Saturation drive i.e. 'Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyan' has been launched with special  focus  to  saturate  PM  KISAN  beneficiaries.  The  main  objective  of  this  drive  is  to mobilise the potential farmers through a special drive under Block Level Bankers Committee to saturate PM KISAN beneficiaries with KCC and to enrol maximum number of farmers/PM KISAN beneficiaries under all types of KCC schemes (for Crop cultivation, Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries etc.).

## 17. 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.

## 18. 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.

## 19. 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 30.12.2023) is as under:

-  Area Expansion: - An additional area of 13.24 lakh ha. of identified horticulture crops has been covered. Nurseries: - 882 nurseries have been established for production of quality planting material.
-  Rejuvenation: - An area of 1.44 lakh ha. of old and senile orchards has been rejuvenated.
-  Organic Farming: - An area of 52108 ha. been covered under organic practices.
-  Protected  Cultivation:  -  An  area  of  3.13  lakh  ha.  has  been  covered  under Protected Cultivation.
-  Water Resources: - 51476 water-harvesting structures have been created.
-  Beekeeping: - 15.94 lakh bee colonies with hives have been distributed.
-  Horticulture  Mechanization:  -2.65  lakh  horticulture  mechanization  equipment have been distributed.
-  Post-Harvest Management Infrastructures: - 1.17 lakh post-harvest units have been established.
-  Market Infrastructures: - 15522 market infrastructures have been set up.
-  Training of Farmers: - Under HRD, 9.31 lakh farmers have been trained under various horticulture activities.

## 20. 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 installments  to the respective KPs & R-ABIs for funding to these Start-ups  under RKVY Agristartup Programme of Department of Agriculture & FW.

## 21. 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  previous  year  2021-22,  the  Agri  and  allied  export  has  increased from 50.24 billion USD in 2021-22 to 53.15 billion USD in 2022-23 i.e. an increase of 5.79%.

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