Parliament Question: Promotion of Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4064 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17TH MARCH, 2026 PROMOTION OF NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE 4064. SHRI MANI A: Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has framed or is implementing any scheme, policy or guidelines to promote Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture aimed at improving availability, accessibility and consumption of nutritious crops such as millets, pulses, fruits and vegetables; (b) whether such initiatives are being implemented in State of Tamil Nadu, particularly in Dharmapuri district, which has a high dependence on rainfed agriculture and nutrition-related challenges; (c) the details of programmes encouraging diversification towards nutrient-rich crops, kitchen gardens, biofortified varieties and integrated farming systems in the district; (d) whether convergence with schemes relating to women, child nutrition and public health has been ensured at the district level; and (e) the steps taken to strengthen awareness, capacity building and market support to promote Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture among small and marginal farmers in Dharmapuri district? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण रा(cid:475) मं(cid:361)ी (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHOUDHARY) (a) to (e): The Government is implementing various centrally sponsored schemes to promote nutritious crops such as millets, pulses, fruits and vegetables. To address nutrition sensitive agriculture, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) implemented a programme on Nutri-Smart Village to reach out 75 villages across India including 5 villages in Tamil Nadu through the network of All India Coordinated Research Project on Women in Agriculture. The objectives of the programme were to promote nutritional awareness, education and behavioural change in rural areas involving farm women and school children; to harness traditional knowledge through the local recipe to overcome malnutrition; and to implement nutrition-sensitive agriculture through homestead agriculture and Nutri-garden.As part of its activities, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) are implementing Nutri-Sensitive Agricultural Resources and Innovations (NARI) for creating awareness on health and nutrition literacy. KVKs conduct frontline demonstrations, training programmes and extension activities on various aspects of NARI including nutri-thali, nutrition garden, bio-fortified crop varieties, etc. During 2024-25, a total of 13,614 nutri-gardens including 210 in Dharmapuri district were established with 15774 farm families. Bio-fortified varieties of different crops (cereals, millets, pulses, oilseeds, tubers and vegetables) were demonstrated in the area 599.88 ha and covered 2328 farm families by 1,807 demonstrations to improve nutritional status of the farming community. KVKs also conducted 2,312 demonstrations on value addition of different crops viz. cereal, millets, vegetables and fruits in which 3,746 farm families. The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India is implementing various schemes like National Food Security & Nutrition Mission (NFSNM), Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) to increase the production of crops such as Shree Anna, Pulses, Fruits and Vegetables thereby also encouraging diversification towards nutrient-rich crops. In addition, the State Government of Tamil Nadu has informed that to increase the production of Pulses, Millets, Fruits and Vegetables, it is implementing various State Government funded schemes such as Tamil Nadu Millet Mission, Hill Farmers Development Scheme (Special scheme for Tribal farmers) and Nutrition Farming Mission. Dharmapuri is the leading producer of Millets in the state of Tamil Nadu, known for its cultivation in Finger millet and Pearl millet. To create awareness among the people, exhibitions, district level festivals, Road shows, creation of awareness programmes are conducted under NFSNM-Shree Anna. A Millet Mela was conducted in Dharmapuri on 17.08.2025.To enhance the nutrition of people& promote consumption of traditional nutrient millets, a pilot scheme to distribute 2 kg Ragi/Family Card through Public Distribution System is being implemented by the State government of Tamil Nadu. Further in Dharmapuri, as per the State Government of Tamil Nadu, 30500 vegetable seed kits, 18800 fruit plant kits and 2000 pulses seed kits have been distributed in Dharmapuri district benefiting 51,300 beneficiariesunder the Nutrition Farming Mission.In addition, Area Expansion in Fruits and Vegetables has been carried out in 453 Ha in Dharmapuri District. Under NFSNM, the state has conducted demonstrations in an area of 4085 ha for millets and 1050 ha for pulses in the Dharmapuri district ******