Working on the agriculture reforms suggested by Niti Aayog, says govt

New Delhi: The Government is aware of the roadmap outlined by NITI Aayog for reforms in the agriculture sector and doubling farmers income by 2022, stated the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Mr Parshottam Rupala on 19th December in reply to a question in the Parliament.

The roadmap by NITI Aayog presents a quantitative framework for doubling farmers’ income which has identified seven sources of growth. These include the increase in productivity of crops; increase in production of livestock; improvement in efficiency of input use (cost saving); increase in crop intensity; diversification towards high-value crops; improved price realization by farmers and shift of cultivators to non-farm jobs.

“This policy paper was shared with the States/UTs for devising a relevant strategy so as to realize the goal of doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Apart from the above, the Department has also constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee for recommending the suitable strategy, mentioned the minister.

MoS Agriculture also called the sector a state subject and that the state governments are primarily responsible for the growth and development of agriculture sector in their respective States. “The role of Central Government is to supplement the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support,” he added.

Earlier the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) had conducted “Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households” during NSS 70th round (January 2013- December 2013) in the rural areas of the country with reference to the agricultural year July 2012- June 2013. The information on unemployed farmers in the country is not available in the data collected during the above NSSO survey, informed Mr Rupala.

As per the minister, the Department of Agriculture is working out specific interventions for promoting ancillary activities like bee-keeping and also finalizing farm sector programmes under the ‘Skill India’ programme to improve employment opportunities and to reduce over dependence on the agriculture sector.