Parliament Question: Goal of Doubling Farmers' Income

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 420 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22ND July 2025 GOAL OF DOUBLING FARMERS’ INCOME 420. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR: SHRI VISHALDADA PRAKASHBAPU PATIL: SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE: SMT. SHAMBHAVI: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष और (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण मं(cid:287)ी be pleased to state: (a) the details of the major reforms undertaken by the Government during the last Five years to achieve the goal of doubling farmers' income and the steps taken to ensure the compliance with the recommendations of the Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) Committee; (b) the manner in which the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and market price stabilization mechanism in the country compare with European Union agricultural subsidies and the details of the measures which are being taken to further protect farmers' earnings; (c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to promote precision farming and smart agriculture techniques, thereby increasing farmers' profitability by reducing input costs; (d) the details of the measures which have been taken to improve cold storage infrastructure for perishable agricultural commodities to increase farmers income; and (e) whether the Government has any future plans to develop such agricultural models in metropolitan areas, given that countries like the Netherlands and Israel are pioneers in urban and vertical farming? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष और (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)(a) : The Government has adopted the vision of Doubling Farmers lncome. An inter- ministerial committee was constituted on 13th April, 2016 to recommend comprehensive strategies for achieving the goal. The Government of lndia has identified the following seven sources for enhancing growth of farmers: - i. lncrease in crop productivity ii. lncrease in livestock productivity iii. Resource use efficiency - reduction in cost of production iv. lncrease in cropping intensity v. Diversification to high value agriculture vi. Remunerative prices on farmers' produce vii. Shift of surplus manpower from farm to non-farm occupations To achieve the above seven objectives, Government of lndia supplements the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support and various schemes/ programmes. The Government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) from Rs. 21,933.50 crore during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,27,290.16 crore in 2025-26. The various schemes/programmes of the Government of India are meant for the Welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers is at Annexure. (b): As per EU website (agriculture.ec.europa.eu), Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of European Union is linked to farmed area and conditionality for compliance with EU rules. Indian system is broad and inclusive, as per national priorities of farmers welfare and self sufficiency in food grains. Besides PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Government fixes Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for mandated crops based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) after considering the views of concerned State Governments and Central Ministries/ Departments. The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep MSPs at levels of one and half times of the cost of production. Accordingly, Government had consistently increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other Commercial crops with a minimum margin of 50 percent over all India weighted average cost of production from the year 2018-19 onwards. Integrated Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) strengthens implementation of MSP and acts as a tool for market price stabilisation. PM-AASHA has components of Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficit Payment Scheme (PDPS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS).PSS is implemented on the request of the State Govt./ UT that agrees to exempt from levy of Mandi tax on the procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds and copra and make arrangements like booking of scientific storage facility, identification of procurement centres, arrangement of gunny bags etc.. It is implemented within the stipulated period as and when the market prices of agricultural commodities fall below the notified MSP during peak harvesting period to provide the remunerative price to the farmers. From the procurement year 2024-25, the sanction for the procurement of notified Pulses, Oilseeds and Copra under PSS is given to the States/UTs initially upto a maximum of 25% of the production of the State for that particular season. Subsequently, if the State/UT achieves the overall procurement against sanctioned quantity and further intends to procure more beyond the sanctioned quantity, the proposal for the procurement under the PSS is considered upto a maximum of 25% of the national production. In order to incentivize the farmers contributing in enhancement of domestic production of pulses and to reduce the dependence on imports, the Government has allowed the procurement of Tur, Urad and Masur under PSS equivalent to 100% of the estimated production of the State till 2028-29. PDPS envisages the direct payment of the price difference between the MSP and the selling / modal price in notified market upto 15% of MSP value (including 2% administrative cost) by the Central Government to the pre-registered farmers selling the oilseeds upto 40% of its production with prescribed Fair Average Quality (FAQ) in the notified market yard through a transparent auction process within the stipulated period. However, the States/UTs have the option to implement either PSS or PDPS for the notified oilseeds for the particular year/season. If any State is willing to cover quantities beyond 40%, it can do so from its resources. MIS further enhances the diversity by supporting the perishable and horticulture crops that are not covered under above price stabilisation measures. MIS offers both physical as well as price difference payment along with a provision for storage and transportation of TOP (Tomato, Onion and Potato) crops. This integrated approach leads to the prevention of distress sale by farmers, ensuring remunerative prices for their produce. It also facilitates the creation of buffer stock to address market volatility. Overall, these measures strengthen farmer confidence in market operations due to the assurance of price support.( c) : Precision farming enhances the productivity of agriculture, efficiency of water use and farmers income on sustainable basis without any adverse impact on environment. The crop yields are reported to increase substantially. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) has provision for establishment of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in public sector for demonstration of latest technologies ,including precision farming. The technical support for these CoEs, for specific crops and technology is provided by research institutes and through bilateral cooperation with other countries. Digital Agriculture Mission which enables a robust digital agriculture ecosystem in the country for driving innovative farmer-centric digital solutions and making available timely and reliable crop-related information to farmers. The Mission envisages the creation of Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture such as Agristack, Krishi Decision Support System, Comprehensive Soil Fertility & Profile Map, and other IT initiatives undertaken by Central Government/State Governments. Agristack project is one of the major components of this Mission, which consists of three foundational registries or databases in the agriculture sector, i.e., the Farmers' Registry, Geo- referenced village maps, and the Crop Sown Registry, all created and maintained by the State Governments/Union Territories. This system aims to enhance interoperability and convergence of efforts, fostering the development of applications in the agricultural sector using emerging digital technologies. Under National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGPA) program, which is a component under Digital Agriculture Mission, funding is given to State Governments for Digital Agriculture Projects using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IOT), Blockchain etc. (d) : Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), support is extended to cold storages in agri-export clusters, at farm gate level, for small and marginal farmers as well as big businesses, APMCs/mandis to reduce post-harvest losses and increase farmers' returns. Entrepreneurs, cooperatives, PACS, and SHGs are actively availing AIF support for establishing cold chain logistics, often integrated with grading, sorting, and packaging units. Till 30.06.2025, 2454 cold storage projects have been sanctioned under AIF with sanctioned amount of ₹8258 crore. Besides, under the MIDH, for holistic development of horticulture sector, including reducing of harvest and post-harvest losses, financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities . These include setting up of Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, cold storages, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Mission(s) (SHMs). (e ) : There is no such proposal as on date.Annexure Various Schemes/Programmes of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare 1. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) 2. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY) 3. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)/ Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) 4. Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS) 5. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) 6. Formation and Promotion of 10,000 new Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs) 7. National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) 8. Namo Drone Didi 9. National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF) 10. Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) 11. Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises’ (AgriSURE) 12. Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) 13. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM) 14. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) 15. Soil Health & Fertility (SH&F) 16. Rainfed Area Development (RAD) 17. Agroforestry 18. Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) 19. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE) 20. Sub-Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP) 21. National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM) 22. Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM) 23. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) 24. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm 25. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds 26. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region 27. Digital Agriculture Mission 28. National Bamboo Mission *****