Parliament Question: Plans to improve agricultural infrastructure and market access

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3211 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20/03/2026 PLANS TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND MARKET ACCESS 3211. SHRI SANT BALBIR SINGH: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE be pleased to state: (a) the manner in which Government plans to improve agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation systems, cold storage and transport, to help farmers reduce post-harvest losses and improve income; (b) the measures being taken to enhance the accessibility of farmers to fair and transparent markets, both domestic and international; and (c) whether Government is planning to introduce reforms to ensure that farmers are paid promptly and fairly for their produce through better regulatory frameworks? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR) (a): Government is implementing the following schemes in the country to strengthen agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation, cold storage, and transportation facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and enhance farmers' income: i. Per drop More Crop (PDMC) scheme is being implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) across the country. The scheme focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through use of Micro Irrigations Systems namely, drip & sprinkler Irrigation systems. As on date, an area of 108.07 Lakh Hectare has been covered under Micro Irrigation through PDMC with financial assistance of Rs.26,081.56 Crore. ii. Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme, assistance is provided for creation of post-harvest infrastructure and viable farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee support. As on 11th March, 2026, under this scheme, an investment of Rs. 1,34,005 Crore has been made across 1,70,241 projects. An amount of Rs.84502.78 Crore has been sanctioned for these projects. The major projects include 46,427 Custom Hiring Centres, 26,694 Primary Processing Centres, 28,570 Farm Harvest Automation projects, 18,175 Warehouses, 4,316 Sorting and Grading Units, 3,642 Infrastructure projects for Smart and Precision Agriculture, 2,895 Cold Storage projects etc. iii. Financial assistance is provided for the construction of godowns/warehouses to enhance the storage capacity for agricultural produce though the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), a sub-scheme of the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM). Under this scheme, 49,796 warehouses have been sanctioned from inception up to January 2026, with a total storage capacity of 982.94 Lakh Metric Tonnes, and a subsidy amounting to Rs.4,832.70 crore has been released to different stakeholders. In addition, 25,009 agriculturalmarketing infrastructure projects, other than storage, have also been sanctioned, for which a subsidy amounting to Rs.2,193.05 crore has been released. iv. In order to promote the holistic growth of the horticulture sector, including fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is being implemented. Under MIDH, as on 31.01.2026, a total of 8831 infrastructure cold storage projects involving total capacity 402.28 LMT have developed. (b): To enhance farmers' access to fair and transparent markets, the Government has launched the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), an online trading platform integrating Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis across the country to facilitate transparent price discovery and better market access. So far, 1,656 mandis across 23 States and 4 Union Territories have been integrated with the platform and trade worth Rs.4.82 Lakh Crore has been recorded. Further, the Government is promoting Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) under the Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs to strengthen collective marketing and improve farmers' bargaining power. So far, 5,048 FPOs have been registered on e-NAM and 6,070 FPOs have been onboarded on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to expand their market access. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), supports its member exporters, including Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO's), in the export promotion of its Scheduled products produced by them, under its Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). The scheme has three components viz., Development of Export Infrastructure, Quality Development and Market Development. APEDA has supported 07 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in obtaining Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certification with financial assistance, thereby enhancing the marketability of their produce in developed country markets. In addition, APEDA has facilitated first- time exports from FPOs, either directly or through third-party exporters, to new international markets. As per available data for the last two financial years, 9 export flag-offs were facilitated in 2024-25 from FPOs across 7 States to 7 countries, while 7 export flag-offs have been facilitated in 2025-26 (till date) from FPOs of 7 States to 4 countries. (c): Agricultural marketing is a State subject. However, the Government, through the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is facilitating reforms in coordination with States to improve market access and ensure better price realization for farmers, including via e-NAM. Various States have undertaken various reforms such as establishment of private markets, promotion of direct marketing, declaration of warehouses/silos/cold storages as deemed market yards, introduction of e-trading platforms, single-point levy of market fee, provision of a single unified license, rationalization of market fee and rationalization of commission charges, deregulation of fruits and vegetables, exemption of market fee for direct sales to processing units/factories by farmers/ FPOs at their premises, and exemption of market fee on produce brought from other States for processing. Further, under e-NAM and other digital platforms, mechanisms are available to facilitate quicker payments through electronic modes. *****