Lok Sabha Question No. 331 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-22
Subject: Income of Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: BANSHILAL MAHTO, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 331

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND   DECEMBER, 2015

## INCOME OF FARMERS

*331.    DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that income from farming is insufficient to cover the household expenditure of farmers in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  'Situation  Assessment  Survey  of Farmers'  to  calculate  the  average  annual/monthly  income  of  farmers  and  ascertain  their socio-economic conditions and if so, the details and the outcome thereof, State-wise;
- (d) whether  some  leading  farmer  unions  of  the  country  have  recently  demanded constitution of an income commission to suggest ways and means to ensure a minimum income for farmers and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government thereon; and
- (e) the institutional mechanism put in place with regard to marketing and insurance of crops to enable the farmers to cope with the multitude risk involved in farming and ensure adequate farm income?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण ½ãâ¨ããè (SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  331 DUE FOR REPLY ON 22 ND  DECEMBER, 2015.

- (a) to (c): The  National  Sample  Survey  Office  (NSSO)  conducted  Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households during its 70 th Round in rural areas of the country for the reference period of the agricultural year July 2012 to June 2013. The survey provides a comprehensive socio-economic study of the agricultural households covering, level of income and expenditure, farming practices, possession of productive assets,  resource  availability,  awareness,  indebtedness,  etc.  As  per  the  results  of  the Survey,  at  all-India  level  the  average  monthly  income  from  various  sources  and consumption  expenditure  per  agricultural  household,  during  the  agricultural  year  July 2012-June 2013, was estimated at  Rs.6426/-  and  Rs.6223/-,  respectively.  State-wise details  of  average  monthly  income  and  consumption  expenditure  per  agricultural household is given in Annexure-I.
- (d):      The  Government  receives  representations  from  time  to  time  on  various  issues concerning agricultural sector. In order to protect the interest of farmers, Government of India is implementing a number of schemes/programmes to supplement the efforts of State  Governments.  Some  of  the  recent  initiatives  taken  by  the  government  to  help farmers in increasing production, reducing cost of cultivation and to improve profitability of the  agricultural sector  are  at Annexure-II. Furthermore,  keeping  in  view  the increasing costs of production and other relevant factors, the Government based on the recommendations  of  CACP,  has  progressively  increased  the  Minimum  Support  Price (MSP) for major agricultural  commodities  so  as  to  ensure  remunerative  prices  to  the farmers.

-2-

(e):        To  improve  the  institutional  mechanism  for  marketing  of  agricultural  produce, States/UTs have been advised to amend their respective State APMC Acts on the lines of  Model  APMC  Act,  2003.  The  Model  Act  provides  for  direct  marketing,  contract farming,  farmers/consumer markets,  setting  up  of  markets  in  private  and  cooperative sectors, e-trading etc. In order to further its objective of putting in place an institutional arrangement  to  ensure  transparency  in  transactions  and  better  price  discovery  and thereby reasonable gains to the farmers, Government has approved a Central Sector Scheme 'Promotion of National Agricultural Market (NAM) through Agri-Tech Infrastructure  Fund  (ATIF)'.  The  Scheme  provides  for  a  pan-India  electronic  trading portal which seeks to network the existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

In addition, Government ensures remunerative price to the farmers by offering to procure their produce at MSP fixed by the Government. However, farmers are free to sell  it  to  Government agencies or in the open market as is advantageous to them.  In order to improve the procurement mechanism for pulses & oilseeds, in addition to the procurement  of  cereals  and  coarse  cereals,  Government  has  also  designated  Food Corporation of India (FCI) as the nodal agency for procurement of pulses & oilseeds for the  agricultural  year  2015-16.  Small  Farmers'  Agribusiness  Consortium  (SFAC)  and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) also supplement the efforts of FCI  on the procurement of pulses and oilseeds.

Government has also been implementing Crop Insurance Schemes since 1985 in order to provide   insurance   coverage and financial  support to farmers, including small

-3- and marginal farmers, in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of non-preventable natural calamities, pests & diseases, adverse weather conditions and to  help  stabilize  farm  income  particularly  in  disaster  years.  At  present,  two  crop insurance schemes, namely National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) with its three component schemes (i) Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), (ii) Weather  Based  Crop  Insurance  Scheme  (WBCIS)  and  (iii)  Coconut  Palm  Insurance Scheme  (CPIS)  and  National  Agricultural  Insurance  Schemes  (NAIS)  are  being implemented in the country to provide insurance coverage against the crop losses of insured farmers. The schemes are being implemented on 'Area Approach' basis and assistance  is  being  provided  to  insured  farmers  only.  Selection  of  the  scheme(s), area(s)  and  crops  covered  under  the  Schemes  alongwith  implementing  insurance companies  are  being  decided  by  the  concerned  State  Government.  To  encourage farmers, premium subsidy @ 10% to small and marginal farmers only under NAIS, upto 75% under MNAIS, upto 50% under WBCIS and upto 75% under CPIS is provided to all participating  farmers  and  the  financial  liabilities  under  the  aforesaid  schemes  are equally shared by the Central Government and the concerned State Government.

## Annexure in reference to Reply to Part (a) to (c) of the Starred Question No. 331 due for answer on 22.12.2015

Average Monthly Income per Agricultural Household during the agricultural   year July 2012June 2013

| State             | Average monthly income* per agricultural Household during July 2012- June 2013 (Rs)   | Average monthly consumption expenditure per agricultural household during July 2012- June 2013 (Rs)   |
|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (1)               | (2)                                                                                   | (3)                                                                                                   |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 5979                                                                                  | 5927                                                                                                  |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 10869                                                                                 | 7109                                                                                                  |
| Assam             | 6695                                                                                  | 5766                                                                                                  |
| Bihar             | 3558                                                                                  | 5485                                                                                                  |
| Chhattisgarh      | 5177                                                                                  | 4489                                                                                                  |
| Gujarat           | 7926                                                                                  | 7672                                                                                                  |
| Haryana           | 14434                                                                                 | 10637                                                                                                 |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 8777                                                                                  | 7134                                                                                                  |
| Jammu & Kashmir   | 12683                                                                                 | 9017                                                                                                  |
| Jharkhand         | 4721                                                                                  | 4688                                                                                                  |
| Karnataka         | 8832                                                                                  | 5889                                                                                                  |
| Kerala            | 11888                                                                                 | 11008                                                                                                 |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 6210                                                                                  | 5019                                                                                                  |
| Maharashtra       | 7386                                                                                  | 5762                                                                                                  |
| Manipur           | 8842                                                                                  | 6490                                                                                                  |
| Meghalaya         | 11792                                                                                 | 6937                                                                                                  |
| Mizoram           | 9099                                                                                  | 7936                                                                                                  |
| Nagaland          | 10048                                                                                 | 7285                                                                                                  |
| Odisha            | 4976                                                                                  | 4307                                                                                                  |
| Punjab            | 18059                                                                                 | 13311                                                                                                 |
| Rajasthan         | 7350                                                                                  | 7521                                                                                                  |
| Sikkim            | 6798                                                                                  | 5670                                                                                                  |
| Tamil Nadu        | 6980                                                                                  | 5803                                                                                                  |
| Telangana         | 6311                                                                                  | 5061                                                                                                  |
| Tripura           | 5429                                                                                  | 6922                                                                                                  |
| Uttarakhand       | 4701                                                                                  | 5784                                                                                                  |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 4923                                                                                  | 6230                                                                                                  |
| West Bengal       | 3980                                                                                  | 5888                                                                                                  |
| Group of UTs      | 8568                                                                                  | 8001                                                                                                  |
| all-India         | 6426                                                                                  | 6223                                                                                                  |

Source: NSSO

* The income includes income from salary/wages, net receipt from cultivation, net receipt from farming of animals and net receipt from non-farm business.

Note: Households with at least one member self-employed in agriculture, either in the principal status or in subsidiary status, and having total value of produce more than ₹3000/- during the last 365 days were considered for being selected for this survey.

## Annexure in reference to Reply to Part (d) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 331 due for answer on 22.12.2015

## Recent Initiatives by the Government to Improve Profitability of Agricultural Profession

- (i) Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme is being implemented under which the farmers can know the  major  and  minor  nutrients  available  in  their  soils  which  will  ensure  judicious  use  of fertiliser  application  and  thus  save  money  of  farmers.  The  balanced  use  of  fertiliser  will also enhance productivity and ensure higher returns to the farmers.
- (ii) Neem Coated Urea is being promoted to regulate urea use, enhance its availability to the crop  and  reduce  cost  of  fertilizers  application.  The  entire  quantity  of  domestically manufactured urea is now neem coated.
- (iii) Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) is being implemented with a view to promoting organic farming in the country.  This will improve soil health and organic matter content and increase net income of the farmer so as to realise premium prices.
- (iv) The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) is  being  implemented to expand cultivated  area  with  assured  irrigation,  reduce  wastage  of  water  and  improve  water  use efficiency.
- (v) In  addition to the  above, Government is also implementing several Centrally Sponsored Schemes- National Food Security Mission (NFSM); Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH); National Mission on Oilseeds & Oilpalm (NMOOP); National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture  (NMSA);  National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology  (NMAET);  National  Crop  Insurance  Programme  (NCIP);  Unified  National Agriculture Markets; and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
- (vi) The Government undertakes procurement of wheat and paddy under its 'MSP operations'. In addition, Government   implements   Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of agricultural and horticultural commodities not covered under the MSP Scheme on the request of State/UT Government. The MIS is implemented in order to protect the growers of  these  commodities from  making  distress  sale  in  the  event  of  bumper  crop  when  the prices tend to fall below the economic level/cost of production. Losses, if any, incurred by the procuring agencies are shared by the Central Government and the concerned State Government on 50:50 basis (75:25 in case of North-Eastern States).  Profit, if any, earned by the procuring agencies is retained by them.

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