20-Oct-2022: The activities of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare under Special Campaign 2.0.

Government of India under the guidance of DARPG has taken up Special Campaign 2.0 covering all ministries, government departments, Subordinate bodies and their field offices all over India.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has also made elaborate plans to cover all Subordinate Offices, autonomous bodies and all field units under its administrative control. A total of 263 sites were selected where various activities are being conducted with full enthusiasm by participation of employees, Public and all stake holders. The various activities covered are cleaning up exercises both within and outsides office premises, removal of scrap and freeing the area for useful purposes, disposal of all files and reducing pendency, State references, Grievances and other pending issues.

DA&FW has made excellent progress so far in terms of disposal of public Grievances and PMO references, Number of physical file reviewed and weeded out, Number of cleanliness campaign conducted at various sites, Revenue generated through scrap disposal, space freed etc.

During Monitoring Phase, 370 Public Grievances were disposed of, 38249 files were reviewed and 25445 files are wedded out and Outdoor cleanliness campaigns were conducted at 105 sites which covers all the field offices of DA&FW in remotest parts of the country. This is creating a good awareness among the public about the Swachhta campaign. In addition Rs. 95650/- were generated as revenue receipt and 6102 sq. ft. space was freed.

The beautification of office spaces are being done by removing all furniture, unused electronic items etc. from office gallery as well as from the rooms to create the space & improved the lightings inside the offices to create a better working condition for staffs. The Madhubani-painting are being carried on the walls of the office of Department of Agriculture &Farmers Welfare.

Madhubani painting depicting various themes of agriculture in the corridor of Krishi Bhawan created during Special campaign 2.0.

5-Aug-2022: Financial assistance to develop Regional Agricultural Produces

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been incentivizing setting of food processing industries through Central sector umbrella scheme ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and centrally sponsored scheme ‘PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme across all the country. Under scheme of creation of infrastructure for agro processing clusters, a component scheme of PMKSY, the scheme is aimed at development of modern infrastructure and common facilities to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach and also to create modern infrastructure for food processing closer to production areas and to provide integrated and complete preservation infrastructure facilitates from the farm gate to the consumer.

For One District One Product (ODOP), the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under Centrally Sponsored Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME Scheme), in partnership with the States, provides financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises. The scheme adopts ODOP approach to reap the benefit of scale in terms of procurement of inputs, availing common services and marketing of products. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has advised states for convergence of resources towards ODOP from ongoing centrally sponsored schemes such as Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) etc. Similar approach has been suggested to Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying for convergence of their schemes towards ODOP.

In addition, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (HCDP) had identified 55 clusters of selected high value horticulture crops and 12 clusters have already been launched in first phase.

2-Aug-2022: Alternatives for Tobacco Farmers

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) has been implementing Crop Diversification Programme (CDP), a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), in 10 tobacco growing states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to encourage farmers to shift to alternative crops/cropping system since 2015-16. Under CDP, tobacco growing states have been given the flexibility to take suitable activities / interventions to shift from tobacco crops to alternative agricultural / horticultural crops.

For implementation of the scheme in the 10 tobacco growing states, the Central share of Rs. 667.00 lakh, 667.00 lakh, 667.00 lakh, 1000.00 lakh and 1000.00 lakh were allocated during the year 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.

A total of 111889 acres land has been shifted from tobacco farming during last five years i.e. 2017-18 to 2021-22 to other alternative crops/cropping system.

In addition to CDP, the Government of India is also providing flexibility to the States for state specific needs/priorities under RKVY and the States can promote crop diversification under RKVY with the approval of State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) headed by Chief Secretary of the respective states. The DA&FW also implements various crop development programmes such as the National Food Security Mission on Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Nutri Cereals, Coarse Cereals, Oilseeds and Commercial Crops (Cotton, Jute & Sugarcane), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) etc. for promotion of agricultural / horticultural crops.

ICAR- Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry has recommended alternative cropping system to the States for replacing tobacco.    

26-Jul-2022: Budget for Agriculture

The Government of India is continuously working for enhancing agricultural productivity, farmers’ income and their welfare in a sustainable manner. Accordingly, the Budget for Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) has been increased from Rs. 21933.50 crore (2013-14) to Rs. 124000 crore (2022-23), which is 465% increase for implementation of various agricultural development and welfare schemes aiming to increase agriculture production and farmers’ welfare across the country. Besides, Rs. 8513.62 crore have been allocated during 2022-23 to Department of Agricultural Research and Education for development of several new high yielding, biotic/ abiotic stress tolerant, disease/ insect resistant and bio-fortified varieties of seed, etc.

In order to enhance production and productivity of food crops, the Government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in the country. The mission aims at increasing foodgrains/ food crop production through area expansion in niche regions and productivity improvement. The mission also provides support to Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR) & State Agriculture Universities (SAUs)/Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKS) for technology back stopping and transfer of technology to the farmer under supervision of Subject Matter Specialists/Scientists. The research organizations are supported for undertaking research projects that can help enhancing production and productivity of crops. For welfare of farmers’, Government has launched various initiatives viz. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman  Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan  Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PMAASHA), Price Support Scheme (PSS) for pulses and oilseeds, Price Deficiency Payment  Scheme (PDPS), Interest Subvention Scheme, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), etc.

Further, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) which focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation viz. Drip and Sprinkler Irrigation System. An area of 68 lakh ha under micro-irrigation has been covered during 2015-16 to 2020-21 under PMKSY-PDMC.

22-Jul-2022: Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has taken a number of steps to deal with the extreme weather situation

The DA&FW has taken a number of steps to deal with the situation arising out of this extreme weather event. The DA&FW issues advisories to the States through the Crop Development Directorates (CDDs) in consultation with State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) for creating an awareness campaign and to implement contingency plans as per local need.  Besides, the India Meteorological Department under the Ministry of Earth Science issues weather based operational agro-meteorological advisories jointly with ICAR and SAUs under the Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) Scheme.  Besides, Agromet advisories are communicated to farmers through multichannel dissemination systems like the print and electronic media, Doordarshan, radio, internet etc.  A mobile App viz., ‘Meghdoot’ has been launched by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, to help farmers to obtain weather information including alerts and related Agromet advisories specific to their districts.

Climate resilient varieties of seeds in different crops tolerant to climatic stresses have been developed by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). So far 8 varieties were released in rice, green gram, maize and lentil. Apart from this, 177 climate resilient varieties have reached the farmer’s field through large scale demonstrations across the country. ICAR has also launched a flagship network project ‘National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture’ (NICRA) in 2011. The project is being implemented through different components viz., strategic research on adaptation and mitigation, demonstration of technologies on farmers’ fields in 151 clusters of villages one each from climatically vulnerable districts and creating awareness among farmers and other stakeholders to minimize the climatic change impacts on agriculture. The project aims to develop and promote climate resilient technologies that help the districts and regions prone to extreme weather conditions like droughts, floods, frost, heat waves, etc., to cope with such extremes.

To deal with long term impacts of Climate Change, the Government of India is taking several steps. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) is one of the Missions within the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). The mission aims to evolve and implement strategies to make Indian agriculture more resilient to the changing climate.    

7-Apr-2022: Improving Irrigation

As per the latest available information provided by Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, in the year 2018-19, against total agricultural land of 1,80,888 thousand hectares, the cultivated land in the country was 1,53,888 thousand hectare, out of which net 71,554 thousand hectares was irrigated.

Water being a State subject, it is for the State Governments to take up projects for providing irrigation in rain-fed regions under their jurisdiction. Role of Government of India is limited to being catalytic, providing technical support and in some cases partial financial assistance in terms with the existing schemes under implementation.

A centrally sponsored scheme, namely Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), was launched during the year 2015-16, with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc.

PMKSY is an umbrella scheme, inter alia consisting of two major components implemented by Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, namely, Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), and Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP). HKKP, in turn, consists of four sub-components, being Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM), Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI), Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies, and Ground Water (GW) Development component. In addition, PMKSY has Watershed Development (WD) component being implemented by Department of Land Resources. Further, during the years 2015-22, Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) component was being implemented by Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under PMKSY, which has now been taken up under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Extension of PMKSY for 2021-22 to 2025-26 has been approved with an overall outlay of Rs. 93,068.56 crore (central assistance of Rs. 37,454 crore, debt servicing to NABARD for Rs. 20,434.56 crore and State share to be borne by the State Governments being Rs. 35,180 crore). Component-wise details for the central assistance part are as given below:

17-Dec-2021: Modernization and Mechanization in Agriculture Sector

The practices of cultivation followed by farmers and use of farming equipments depend on various factors such as geographical conditions, crop grown, irrigation facilities etc. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing various missions/schemes that promotes and extend supports to the farmers for modernization and mechanization of agriculture. Infrastructure development supports for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs)/Hi-tech Hubs of agricultural machines is provided under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization. Under this scheme, during the period from 2014-15 to 2021-22, the central funds amounting to Rs. 5490.82 Crores have been released to various States and 1352255 number of machines have been distributed on subsidy to individual farmers, 15261 CHCs, 352 Hi-tech Hubs & 15750 Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs) have been established. Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)Scheme, for protected cultivation of horticulture and vegetable crops, since 2014-15 to 2021-22, an amount of Rs.2767 crore have been released and an area of more than 2.33 lakh hectare has been covered. Resources conservation technologies for water use efficiency enhancement through micro irrigation has been promoted under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Per Drop More Crop (PMKSY-PDMC). Under PMKSY-PDMC, funds of Rs.15280.38 Crore have been released since 2015-16 to 2021-22 and an area of 59.37 lakh hectare was brought under micro irrigation. Soil Heath Cards distribution to farmers for soil test based balanced and judicious use of fertilizers has been undertaken and a total of 10.74 Crores soil health cards have been issued during Cycle-I (2015-17) and 11.97 during cycle –II (2017-19).  Under Model Village Programme during 2019-20, 19.64 lakh Soil Heath Cards have been issued to farmers. Precision farming is promoted by use of drones in pesticide spraying for locust control.

The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has developed various mobile applications for the benefit of farmers such as Kisan Suvidha mobile application facilitates dissemination of information to farmers on the critical parameters viz., Weather; Market Prices; Plant Protection; input Dealers (Seed, Pesticide, Fertilizer) Farm Machinery; Soil Health Card; Cold Storages & Godowns, Veterinary Centres and Diagnostic Laboratories. A multi-lingual ‘FARMS’ (Farm Machinery Solutions) mobile app   facilitates hiring and renting of farm machinery from and by the Custom Hiring Centres/owners of the farm machinery through a fair and transparent rental process. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has also compiled various mobile apps developed by ICAR, State Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras and uploaded on its website. These mobile apps developed in the areas of crops, horticulture, veterinary, dairy, poultry, fisheries, natural resources management and integrated subjects, offer valuable information to the farmers, including package of practices, market prices of various commodities, weather related information, advisory services, etc.

The impact evaluation study of Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization conducted in 2018-19,  indicate that farm mechanization has played a positive role in addressing the issues of shortage of farm labour and helped in increasing employment in rural areas through generation of opportunities for operators, mechanics, salesmen etc. of the agricultural machines.

6-Aug-2021: Government announced additional funds of Rs.14,775/- Crore for DAP and P&K Fertilizers

Recently there was an increase in the international prices of raw materials for manufacturing P&K fertilizers and finished P&K fertilizers. To avoid any distress arising out of this increase, the Govt. announced additional funds of Rs.14,775/- Crore for DAP and P&K fertilizers. The Government of India has notified new NBS rates for P&K fertilizers on 20.05.2021 till Kharif season 2021 i.e. till Oct. 2021, wherein the subsidy on P&K fertilizers has been increased in order to keep the MRP of DAP and other P&K fertilizers at affordable prices in order to mitigate/minimize the adverse effect arising due to such increase in the international prices.

Besides, the MRP of Urea is statutorily fixed by the Government of India. MRP of 45 kg of bag of urea is Rs. 242 per bag (exclusive of charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable).

Apart from the above, DA&FW has informed that the Govt. has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reform and policies that focus on higher income for the farmers. All these policies and programmes are being supported by higher budgetary allocation, non-budgetary financial resources by way of creating Corpus Funds like Micro Irrigation Fund and Agri-marketing schemes to strengthen eNAM and GrAMs, as also in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to promote dairy and fisheries sectors. There have been several reforms to unleash the potential and these include Market Reforms like model APLMC (Promotions and Facilitations) Act, 2017; Establishment of Gramin Agriculture markets (GrAMs); Agri Export Policy, 2018; The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Amendments to Essential Commodity Act, 1955; Promotion of 10,000 FPOs with necessary financial support under Atma Nirbhar Package (Agriculture) and Supplementary Income transfers under PM-KISAN; Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY); Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY); Increase in Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif and Rabi Crop ensuring a 50% of profit margin on the cost of production; Har Med Par Ped; Bee-Keeping; Rashtriya Gokul Mission; Blue Revolution; Interest Subvention Scheme; Kisan Credit Card (KCC) that now offers production loan to even dairy & fishery farmers besides agricultural crops etc.

27-Apr-2021: Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is working to identify Traditional Organic Areas to transform them into certified organic production hubs

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is working to identify Traditional Organic Areas to transform them into certified organic production hubs. The Government of India has certified 14,491 ha of such area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in UT of A&N Islands. This area becomes the first large contiguous territory to be conferred with organic certification under the ‘Large Area Certification’ (LAC) scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme.

Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of Islands have been traditionally organic for ages. The administration has also banned the sale, purchase and usage of any chemical inputs of GMO seeds in these islands. The administration of UT in collaboration with local communities prepared the island-wise and farmer wise database of land holding, practices being adopted, input usage history etc. An expert committee has verified their organic status and recommended for declaration of the area as certified organic under the PGS-India certification programme.  Based on these reports, the Government of India certified 14,491 ha area under Car Nicobar and Nancowry group of islands in UT of A&N Islands.

Besides these islands, agriculture areas in States like Himachal, Uttarakhand, North Eastern states and tribal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, desert districts of Rajasthan which are essentially free from the use of chemical inputs can be transformed to certified organic. Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) in consultation with states is working to identify such areas, transform them to certified organic and facilitate the marketing of area-specific niche products through branding and labelling.

Additionally, to bring isolated individual farmers to the certified organic fold, DAC&FW has also launched an organic certification support scheme under PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana). Under the scheme, individual farmers can avail financial assistance for certification under any of the prevailing certification systems of NPOP or PGS-India. Assistance will be available as reimbursement of certification cost directly to certification agencies through the states.

After A&N Islands, UTs of Lakshadweep and Ladakh are proactively taking steps for the transformation of their traditional organic areas to certified organic. Armed with organic certification these hitherto unexplored areas will have direct access to the emerging organic food market of the country.

Targeting Traditional Agricultural Area to Organic through Large Area Certification: Despite deep inroads of modern agricultural practices, still, there are large contiguous areas in hills, tribal districts, desert and rained areas in India that continue to remain free from chemical input usage. With little efforts, such traditional/ default organic areas can be brought under organic certification almost immediately. Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under its flagship scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojna (PKVY) has launched a unique quick certification programme “Large Area Certification” (LAC) to harness these potential areas.

As per the established norm of organic production systems, the areas having chemical input usage history are required to undergo a transition period of minimum 2-3 years to qualify as organic. During this period, farmers need to adopt standard organic agriculture practices and keep their farms under the certification process. On successful completion, such farms can be certified as organic after 2-3 years. The certification process also requires elaborate documentation and time to time verification by the certification authorities. Whereas under LAC requirements are simple and the area can be certified almost immediately. LAC is a Quick certification process that is cost-effective and farmers do not have to wait for 2-3 years for marketing PGS organic certified products.

Under LAC, each village in the area is considered as one cluster/group. Documentations are simple and maintained village-wise. All farmers with their farmland and livestock need to adhere to the standard requirements and on being verified get certified en-mass without the need to go under conversion period. Certification is renewed on annual basis through annual verification by a process of peer appraisals as per the process of PGS-India.

Background: Organic farming has been identified as a viable option promising safe and chemical residue-free food and long-term sustainability of food production systems. COVID-19 pandemic has further augmented the importance, need and demand. World over the demand for organic food is growing and India is no exception. Realising the importance of environmental and human benefits of chemical-free farming, the Government of India through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has been promoting organic/ natural farming through various schemes of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Organic Mission in North East etc. since 2014.   India now has more than 30 lakh ha area registered under organic certification and slowly more and more farmers are joining the movement. As per the international survey report (2021) India ranks at 5th place in terms of area and is at the top in terms of total number of producers (base year 2019).

27-Jun-2020: Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India hosts two webinars on Reforms in Indian Agriculture, Strategic Policy Shifts and Investment Opportunities

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India hosted two webinars on 25th & 26th June 2020 – the first webinar was on the topic “Landmark Reforms in Indian Agriculture – Investment Opportunities Arising in Agri Enterprises”, while the second webinar dealt with “Ushering a new dawn in Agri Reforms – Strategic Policy Shifts : The Policy Makers’ View”. The webinars were addressed by Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Fisheries and Smt. Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Food Processing, Government of India.

While addressing the webinars, Shri Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, appreciated the path-breaking futuristic steps taken by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for the agriculture sector and welfare of farmers, during the crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The competence of Indian farmers and efforts of the industry in this crisis situation is evident by the fact that the area covered by kharif sowing this year is 316 lakh ha as compared to 154 lakh ha last year and an average of 187 lakh ha during the last five years.

Shri Sanjay Agarwal emphasized that India has a strong advantage in the Agriculture sector which contributes to about 15% of the GDP and livelihood for more than 50% of the population. The country is the fourth largest producer of agrochemicals, has the largest livestock population of around 31% of world’s livestock and largest land area under irrigation. However food processing in India is less than 10% and the target is to increase it to 25%. There is increasing demand for value-added health-fortified and processed food. The global organic market is growing at 12% per annum. He reiterated that developing a strong Agri ecosystem by providing access to better marketing avenues for farmers’ produce and freeing up the sector from restrictive laws is a key focus area for the government, for which three new ordinances have been announced recently. The Agri ecosystem is also being strengthened by several enabling schemes like the Agri Infra Fund of Rs. 1 lakh crore for post-harvest infrastructure, scheme for 10000 FPOs, special drive to include 25 million farmers who still do not have the KCC, and developing a digital Agri-stack which will be a key enabler for online market places and smart agriculture. The Secretary, Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, projected an aspirational vision for ‘Aatmanirbhar Agriculture’ by transforming farmers into entrepreneurs with higher incomes and better quality of life, making agriculture the “go to” investment opportunity, and making India the “Food Basket” for the world.

Comparing livestock rearing to an ATM machine for farmers, Shri Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, said that no product is as fast moving as milk for a retailer. However, the per capita consumption of milk in India is still only 394 gms per day as compared to 500-700 gms per day in US & Europe. The aim is to raise market demand in dairy sector from 158 million mt tonne presently to 290 million mt tonnes over next five years. The share of the organized sector in milk processing is targeted to be raised to 50% from present 30-35%.

Shri Chaturvedi said that Government of India has taken several measures to boost the animal husbandry sector. This includes giving one billion doses of vaccine in a year for FMD which is a bigger drive than in any other country to ensure that cattle are disease-free; animal tagging of five species through Pashu-Aadhar – about 57 crore animals will have unique ID over next 1.5 years on digital platform for mapping their parentage, breed and productivity; improving cattle breeds through artificial insemination, IVF and surrogacy; and aiming to unleash rural entrepreneurs by growing better feed and fodder for animals. Several incentives have been announced like Dairy Infra Development Fund in 2018 and Animal Husbandry Infra Development Fund this month.

Describing fisheries as a sunrise sector, Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Fisheries, said that from 2014-15 to 2018-19, fisheries sector has grown by 10.87%, fish production by 7.53%, fisheries exports have grown by 9.71% and India’s global share of fish production has grown to 7.73%. India is now the 2nd largest aquaculture producer in the world and 4th largest sea food exporter. The USPs of the fisheries sector are its high growth rate, vast and diverse resources, low investment with high returns, low gestation period, strong technical backup, huge consumer base and export opportunities.

Dr. Rajeev Ranjan projected the key targets of Government of India in this sector in next five years – fish production targeted to be raised from 137.58 lakh tons in 2018-19 to 220 lakh tons in 2024-25, average aquaculture productivity to be raised from 3.3 tons/ha to 5.0 tons/ha in 2024-25, fisheries exports to Rs 1 lakh crore by 2024-25 and Rs 2 lakh crore by 2028, and employment generation from about 15 lakhs in 2018-19 to about 55 lakhs in 2024-25. He also elaborated on the recent policy reforms and government initiatives in fisheries sector like Fisheries Infrastructure Development Fund and KCC facility to fishermen. The Secretary outlined the investment opportunities in fish farming like brackish water aquaculture, cage farming, seaweed farming, ornamental fisheries; and in support services like brood banks, hatcheries, feed manufacturing, value chain and processing, etc.

3-Apr-2020: Measures to ensure farmers do not suffer during the lockdown period

For ensuring that the farmers do not suffer from any adverse fall out during the lockdown period, the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Government of India is taking several measures for smooth harvesting of Rabi Crop and sowing of summer crop.

Video conference was conducted with all States and Insurance companies to review the payment of claims, status of Conduct of CCEs for Rabi 2019-20 crops, crop loss survey and implementation of Smart Sampling Technique.

For facilitating farm insurance, letters issued to all States to issue passes to representatives of concerned Insurance companies for co-witnessing Crop Cutting Experiments and to relax the norms for conducting field level survey for intimation received for Post-Harvest crop losses due to unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm.

Phytosanitary certification for export consignments and Import releases of plant and plant products are continuing. From the date of lockdown i. e. 24.03.2020 to 02.04.2020, a total of 3776 PSCs have been issued for export consignments and 1074 import consignments have been released.

For providing support to horticulture crops necessary coordination is being done with growers, aggregators, wholesalers, mandi associations, State Horticulture Missions, for smooth transport of the commodities and to sort out all difficulties.

In lockdown period, Kisan Call Centres at all 21 locations are being operated by diverting calls to individual mobile numbers of Farm Tele Advisors, who are now operating from homes. All 454 KCC seats are being operated daily between 6 AM to 10 PM. Call flow is about 15,000 to 20,000 per day.