Parliament Question: Annual Income of Farmers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 516 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 03RD FEBRUARY, 2026 ANNUAL INCOME OF FARMERS 516. MS IQRA CHOUDHARY: ADV PRIYA SAROJ: SHRI PUSHPENDRA SAROJ: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण म(cid:287)ं ी be pleased to state: (a) the median annual income of farmers, separately from farm and non-farm sources since 2014, State and year-wise; (b) the number and proportion of indebted farmer households, the total outstanding agricultural debt and the break-up between crop loans and other borrowings since 2014, State and year-wise; (c) the average outstanding debt per agricultural household along with trends over the last decade, State-wise; and (d) whether the Government proposes to implement the Swaminathan Commission’s Minimum Support Price formula (C2+50 per cent) and if not, the reasons therefor and the details of any alternative income-assurance measures under consideration? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a): The average monthly income of agricultural households in the country is periodically estimated through the “Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households”, conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). As per the latest NSS 77th round of the Survey (January, 2019 – December, 2019) in the rural areas of the country, the average monthly income per agricultural household from various sources is estimated at Rs. 10,218/- per month. The income of agricultural households is derived from multiple sources, including net receipt from crop production (Rs. 3,798/-), net receipt from farming of animals (Rs. 1,582/-), income from wages (Rs. 4,063/-), net receipt from non-farm business( Rs. 641/-) , and leasing out of land (Rs. 134/-). The contribution of these sources varies across States depending on local agro-climatic conditions, farm size, and cropping patterns. The State‑wise average monthly income per agricultural household from different sources during July 2018–June 2019 is given at Annexure I. (b) & (c): As per the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of Agricultural Households, the average amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household is Rs. 74,121/- covering 50.2% of total agricultural household (9.3 crore) during agricultural year July, 2018- June, 2019 across different States/UTs, as detailed in Annexure-II. The SASalso indicates that loans were availed for various purposes, including capital expenditure in farm business(25.9%), revenue expenditure in farm business(31.6%), non-farm business(3.9%), for housing(11.2%), marriages and ceremonies (6.4%), education and medical (5.4%), other consumption expenditure (9.4%) and others (6.2%). (d): National Commission on Farmers (NCF), constituted under the Chairmanship of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan in 2004, inter alia, recommended that Minimum Support Price (MSPs) should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production. To give effect to this recommendation, Government, in its Union Budget for 2018-19, had made an announcement to keep MSP at a level of minimum one and half times of the cost of production as a pre-determined principle. Accordingly, MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops have been fixed with a margin of at least 50 percent over weighted average cost of production. While recommending MSP, CACP considers important factors like cost of production, overall demand-supply conditions, domestic and international prices, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, the likely effect on the rest of the economy, besides ensuring rational utilization of land, water and other production resources and a minimum of 50 percent as the margin over cost of production. Further, Government of India is committed to enhance the welfare of farmers and making agriculture more remunerative. The Government has implemented various policies, reforms, developmental programs, and schemes aimed at improving farmer incomes which includes Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), Fixing of Minimum Support Price (MSP) at one-and-a half times the cost of production, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS), National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM), Agri Fund for Start Ups & Rural Enterprises (AgriSURE), Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing-National Agriculture Market (ISAM eNAM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), among others.Annexure I ANNEXURE REFFERED IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 516 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2026 REGARDING “ANNUAL INCOME OF FARMERS”. State/UT - wise average monthly income of agricultural household during agricultural year July 2018- June 2019 Sl. State/ Group of NE States/ Group Income (Rs.) No. of UTs 1 Andhra Pradesh 10,480 2 Arunachal Pradesh 19,225 3 Assam 10,675 4 Bihar 7,542 5 Chhattisgarh 9,677 6 Gujarat 12,631 7 Haryana 22,841 8 Himachal Pradesh 12,153 9 Jammu & Kashmir 18,918 10 Jharkhand 4,895 11 Karnataka 13,441 12 Kerala 17,915 13 Madhya Pradesh 8,339 14 Maharashtra 11,492 15 Manipur 11,227 16 Meghalaya 29,348 17 Mizoram 17,964 18 Nagaland 9,877 19 Odisha 5,112 20 Punjab 26,701 21 Rajasthan 12,520 22 Sikkim 12,447 23 Tamil Nadu 11,924 24 Telangana 9,403 25 Tripura 9,918 26 Uttarakhand 13,552 27 Uttar Pradesh 8,061 28 West Bengal 6,762 Group of N E States 16,863 Group of UTs 18,511 All India 10,218 Source: NSS Report No. 587: Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019.Annexure-II ANNEXURE REFFERED IN REPLY TO PART (b) & (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 516 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03/02/2026 REGARDING “ANNUAL INCOME OF FARMERS”. Sl.No. State/Group of Average amount (Rs.) of Percentage of covering NE outstanding loan per agricultural households. States/ Group of agricultural household UTs 1 Andhra Pradesh 2,45,554 93.2 2 Arunachal 3,581 12.5 Pradesh 3 Assam 16,407 31.0 4 Bihar 23,534 39.7 5 Chhattisgarh 21,443 31.2 6 Gujarat 56,568 42.5 7 Haryana 1,82,922 47.5 8 Himachal Pradesh 85,825 29.2 9 Jammu & Kashmir 30,435 31.9 10 Jharkhand 8,415 25.3 11 Karnataka 1,26,240 67.6 12 Kerala 2,42,482 69.9 13 Madhya Pradesh 74,420 48.4 14 Maharashtra 82,085 54.0 15 Manipur 5,551 20.6 16 Meghalaya 2,237 9.1 17 Mizoram 23,485 8.0 18 Nagaland 1,750 6.0 19 Odisha 32,721 61.2 20 Punjab 2,03,249 54.4 21 Rajasthan 1,13,865 60.3 22 Sikkim 32,185 10.6 23 Tamil Nadu 1,06,553 65.1 24 Telangana 1,52,113 91.7 25 Tripura 23,944 47.7 26 Uttarakhand 48,338 46.6 27 Uttar Pradesh 51,107 41.9 28 West Bengal 26,452 50.8 Group of N E 10,034 19.2 States Group of UTs 25,629 27.5 All India 74,121 50.2 Source: NSS Report No. 587: Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019 *****