13-Feb-2020: Shri Nitin Gadkari Flags off Apiary on Wheels
‘Apiary on Wheels’, a unique concept designed by KVIC for the easy upkeep and migration of Bee Boxes having live Bee colonies, was flagged off today by the Union Minister of MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari in Delhi, in the presence of Shri V.K. Saxena, Chairman KVIC.
Congratulating the Chairman KVIC, Shri Nitin Gadkari said, “Bee Keeping looks easy but has many intricate difficulties which only a beekeeper would understand. Apiary on Wheels will make the migration easy, the maintenance easy, easy feeding of bees and it will also help the bees to sustain even in extreme summers.”
Aligned with the vision of Prime Minister, KVIC launched Honey Mission in 2017 and has been training beekeepers, distributing Bee Boxes and helping rural, educated but unemployed youth to earn extra income through beekeeping activities, at their doorstep. However, bee keeping involves laborious and mentally challenging tasks such as placing the bee boxes in a strategic position so as to provide enough nectar from flowers to the bees, maintaining the bees during summers and migrating the bee boxes accordingly to fulfil the nourishment needs of the bees etc. KVIC has been continuously evolving new ways so as to make this process more easy and less laborious.
Highlighting the benefits of the Apiary on Wheels, Shri VK Saxena said, “Apiary on wheels is a holistic approach to address the challenges faced by the beekeepers. It is designed so as to reduce the labour and cost of maintaining and upkeeping Bee Boxes and live bee colonies across India. This is an example of ‘out of the box thinking’ which KVIC has adopted to benefit maximum number of people in India and help generate livelihood at the doorsteps.”
Apiary on Wheels is a platform which can carry 20 Bee Boxes from one place to another without any difficulty. Two large wheels on either side of the Apiary on Wheels and 4 separate compartments with independent doors, having 5 bee boxes each help the platform to remain intact without disturbing the live bee colonies. The Apiary on Wheels is also connected with a solar panel system which automatically triggers a fan inside the compartment as soon as the temperature reaches 35 degree centigrade or above. Not only this, the Apiary on Wheels also has sugar drips which helps to feed the bees in the summer season. The Apiary on Wheels is like an attachment which can be easily connected with a Tractor or a Trolley and may be pulled to any suitable destination. Specially, in summers, the beekeepers usually adopted crude methods to feed the bees and many bees used to die in the process. This concept of migration, cooling with the help of solar panels and sugar drips with zero risk to the lives of bees, will prevent any damages to the bee boxes or bee colonies and help produce quality honey.
As a pilot project the Apiary on Wheels will be placed near the mustard farms near the Delhi border under the supervision of local bee keepers and KVIC and after successful implementation the concept will be replicated on a mass scale across India.
7-Feb-2020: Affordable access to Technology at the doorsteps of the farmers
To make available costly and bigger advance farm machinery at the door steps of the farmers on rent basis, Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) are promoted through a dedicated scheme Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM); under which subsidy is provided @ of 40% of the project cost to individual farmer upto a project cost of Rs.60 lakh and 80% to the group of farmers up to a project cost of Rs. 10 lakh. A special consideration for the farmers of North Eastern Region (NER) is available, 95% subsidy upto a project cost of Rs. 10 lakh is provided to group of NER farmers for establishment of Custom Hiring Centres. For establishment of Hi-tech and Hi-value agricultural machinery CHC, assistance @ of 40% of the project cost to individual farmer upto a project cost of Rs.250 lakh is provided.
To address air pollution due to crop burning, a new Central Sector Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ (CRM) for the period from 2018-19 to 2019-20 has been launched. Under the scheme to establish Custom Hiring of in-situ crop residue management machinery a financial assistance @ 80% of the project cost is provided to the farmers.
The Government has developed and launched Multi lingual Mobile App “CHC- Farm Machinery” which helps the farmers for getting rented farm machinery and implements through Custom Hiring Service Centers (CHC) in their area. As on date, 44,607 CHCs with 1,39,319 Agricultural machinery for renting out are registered on this Mobile app. Total 1,14,461 farmers as users are registered on this Mobile App.
5-Dec-2019: 'Kalia' scheme to be merged with Centre's PM-KISAN
Odisha government has decided to merge its flagship scheme to provide assistance to farmers with the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) yojana, apparently due to financial constraint. The state government has taken a decision to change the guidelines for providing aid to farmers.
According to the provisions of the 'Kalia' scheme, farmers, mostly small and marginal cultivators, are entitled to get Rs 10,000 in two instalments for two crops in a year. The landless agricultural farmers are also eligible to get Rs 12,000 per annum for three years. The state government has already paid first instalment (of Rs 5,000) under Kalia scheme and process is on to disburse the second one.
Under PM-Kisan scheme, the central government is providing annually Rs 6,000 in three equal instalments to about 14 crore farmers.
According to the new guidelines, the farmers will get Rs 10,000 per annum as provided under the 'Kalia' scheme, but the cultivators would not be able to avail the central's assistance of Rs 6,000 annually after the merger. Of the annual financial assistance of Rs 10,000, the state government will give Rs 4,000 to farmers while the rest will be provided from the Centre's scheme. Landless farmers will, however, continue to get Rs 12,000 per year under the 'Kalia' scheme.
25-Jan-2019: KALIA launched
Odisha government has come up with a support scheme whose primary targets are small farmers, cultivators and landless agricultural labourers called KALIA. The scheme involves payments to encourage cultivation and associated activities.
Short for Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation, KALIA was launched last month and completed its first phase of registration. Under the scheme, Rs 10,180 crore will be spent over three years until 2020-21 in providing financial assistance to cultivators and landless agricultural labourers. The scheme will benefit 92% of the cultivators in the state and include every category from big farmers to landless cultivators.
All farmers will be provided Rs 10,000 per family as assistance for cultivation. Each family will get Rs 5,000 separately in the kharif and rabi seasons, for five cropping seasons between 2018-19 and 2021-22.
Although the scheme is not linked to the amount of land owned, the government insists it will “greatly benefit” sharecroppers and cultivators, most of whom own little or no land. This targets 10 lakh landless households, and specifically SC and ST families. They will be supported with a unit cost of Rs 12,500 for activities like goat rearing, mushroom cultivation, beekeeping, poultry farming and fishery. The beneficiary is encouraged to choose an activity with which he is familiar because these trades require some skill and network. The idea is to identify an existing capacity and build on it. .
This is also going to be an area-specific scheme in the sense that an input support for a particular trade, say mushroom cultivation, will be provided if it is prevalent throughout that locality so that there is aggregation of produce. A critical trade, dairy production, has deliberately been kept out because keeping a cow is more expensive, while milk production needs to have a collection route or agency that processes and refines this low shelf-life product. On the other hand, poultry farming and fishery do not need a strong ecosystem to survive and has a ready market of consumption or cheap method of preservation. Similarly, beekeeping is done by many self-help groups, so they are already familiar with the networks of that trade.
The KALIA scheme includes a life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh and additional personal accident coverage of the same amount for 57 lakh households. Crop loans up to Rs 50,000 are interest-free.
21-Dec-2018: Odisha govt announces Rs 10,000 crore scheme for development of farmers
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a Rs 10,000-crore scheme for the overall development of farmers in the state. The state cabinet has approved the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, worth over Rs 10,000 crore, for the development of farmers in the state. The KALIA is historic and it will further accelerate agricultural prosperity in the state and reduce poverty.
Though the scheme did not have provision of farm loan waiver; all the small and marginal farmers of the state (over 30 lakh) will be covered under the scheme. Patnaik said that “an amount of Rs 10,000 per family at the rate of Rs 5,000 each for Kharif and Rabi seasons shall be provided as financial assistance for taking up cultivation. Farm loan waiver may only help a section of the farmers, but this scheme will cover 92 per cent of cultivators of the state.
There are about 32 lakh cultivators in the state. Out of this about 20 lakh have availed crop loan. The remaining 12 lakh have not availed crop loans. Further the entire gamut of share croppers and landless labourers will not be covered under a loan waiver scheme. This component is not linked to the extent of land owned. It will greatly benefit share croppers and actual cultivators most of whom own very small extent of land. This assistance is for five crop seasons spanning three years from 2018-19 to 2021-22, so as to ensure comprehensive coverage.
The KALIA scheme also has a component for livelihood support for landless households. Ten lakh landless households will be supported with a unit cost of Rs 12,500 to take up activities like goat rearing units, mini layer units, duckery units, fishery kits for fishermen and women, mushroom cultivation and bee keeping. The landless households will have the option of selecting any of the units. The scheme, among others, will particularly benefit scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households.
An annual financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per household will be provided to take care of sustenance of farmers not able to take up cultivation due to old age, disability, disease or other reasons. Deserving families will be identified and selected by gram panchayats. Patnaik said about 10 lakh households will be covered over two years under this scheme at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
The KALIA scheme also include life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh and additional personal accident cover of Rs 2 lakh will be provided to both cultivators and landless agriculture labourers covering about 74 lakh households. The crop loan up to Rs 50,000 will henceforth be interest free. Under KALIA, an amount of Rs 10,180 crore will be spent over a period of three years till 2020-21. The scheme will be in reviewed in 2020-21 for further modification.
Patnaik said KALIA is a progressive and inclusive scheme and will make a direct attack on poverty by way of massive investment in this sector and making benefits each the most needy through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.