Agriculture ministry’s seven-point strategy to double farmer income by 2022

New Delhi: The Union Agriculture Ministry says it is working to achieve the target of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022, a dream project of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

“The Ministry is working sincerely and honestly to fulfill our Prime Minister’s dream. To double the farmer income, a large number of officials and farmers have been taking a pledge at events organized by the KVK since August 16, 2017,” said a release by the Ministry. It also listed out seven point strategy being followed in this regard:

Seven-point Strategy

1] Increase in production: It is important to improve irrigation efficiency to increase production. Therefore, our government has increased the irrigation budget. ‘Per Drop More Crop’ is our motto.  Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana has been launched to mitigate the drought effect and to ensure ‘water to every farm’. Hence, pending medium and large projects have also been expedited. Watershed development and water harvesting & management projects have been put on the fast track.

2] Effective use of input cost: For the first time, the government has introduced Soil Health Card Scheme to inform farmers about nutrients status of the soils. This is reducing the cultivation cost as farmers are following the recommendations and going for balanced use of fertilisers. In addition, the Government has curbed illegal use of urea and ensured adequate supply through Neem Coated Urea scheme. The government is also encouraging organic farming. The adoption of new technologies in agriculture such as space technology is helping in better planning through forecasting of crop production, agricultural land-use mapping, drought prediction, and utilisation of fallow paddy fields for Rabi crops. Apart from this, farmers are getting timely information and advisory services through online and telecom mediums such as Kisan Call Centre and Kisan Suvidha App.

3] Reduction of post-harvest losses: One of the biggest problems of the farmers is storage after harvesting as a result they are forced to sell their products at a lower cost. Therefore, the government is encouraging farmers to use warehouses and avoid distressed sales. Loans against negotiable warehouse receipts are being provided with interest subvention benefits. To protect farmers from losses, the government is focusing on storage facilities and integrated cold chains in rural areas.

4] Value Addition: The government is also promoting quality through food processing. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana has been started and Rs.6, 000 crore has been allocated for this project. Under this scheme, food-processing capabilities will be developed by working on the forward and backward linkage of agro processing cluster, which will benefit 20 lakh farmers and create employment opportunities for about 5, 00,000.

5] Reforms in Agriculture Marketing: The Central Government is emphasizing on the need of reforms in agriculture marketing. e-NAM was launched with three reforms and so far, 455 mandis have been linked to this platform. Online trading has begun on various mandis. In addition, the government has circulated model Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, which includes private market yards and direct marketing. In addition, the Government is also working on a Model Act to promote contract farming.

6] Risk, Security and Assistance: The Government has initiated Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to reduce the possible risks. The scheme creates a security shield. The lowest rate has been fixed for Kharif and Rabi crops. Maximum rate is 2% and 1.5% respectively.  The scheme covers standing crops as well as pre-sowing to post-harvesting losses. Not only that, 25% of the claim is settled immediately online. New technologies like Smartphones, satellite imagery and drones facilities are being utilised to carry out faster assessments of crop loss under PMFBY. From this Kharif season, the farmers can also avail customer service centre and online banking facilities to deposit their premium. The Government has revised the norms for assistance from SDRF and NDRF. Now, the government is providing compensation if at least 33% of the crop is damaged. Compensation amount has been increased to 1.5 times.

7] Allied Activities

A. Horticulture: The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) scheme is playing an important role in doubling the income of farmers. For this, the Ministry is providing better planting materials, improved seed and protected cultivation, high-density plantation, rejuvenation, and precision farming.

B. Integrated Farming: The government is also using Integrated Farming System (IFS). In addition to agriculture, the focus is also on horticulture, livestock, and bee keeping. This scheme will not only increase farmers’ income, it will also mitigate the effect of drought, flood, and other natural disasters.

I.) White Revolution: Indigenous breeds of cows are being conserved under Rashtriya Gokul Mission. The genetic makeup is improving and increasing the production of milk. The government is set to establish Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund. In addition, Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme is generating self-employment opportunities. White Revolution has been expedited to increase the income of the farmers.

II.) Blue Revolution: Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries is a new initiative and it includes activities such as inland fisheries, Aquaculture, Mariculture undertaken by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB). Apart from this Deep Sea Fishing scheme has also been initiated.

III.) Sub-Mission on Agroforestry: For the first time Sub-Mission on Agroforestry has been initiated with an aim to promote inter-cropping. Under this scheme, “Med Per Ped” campaign has also been included.

IV.) Beekeeping: A large number of farmers/beekeepers are being trained for bee keeping. The bee keepers and honey societies/companies/firms are being registered. Integrated Bee Keeping Development Centres (IBDC) are being established in the states.

C. Rural Backyard Poultry Development: Under this scheme, supplementary income and nutritional support are provided to poultry farmers. Awareness program sensitizing sheep, goat, pig and duck farmers about opportunities to enhance income through Rural Backyard Poultry Development mission is being carried out.