Gist of Kurukshetra- Rural Prosperity:- Major government initiatives in Agriculture:

Published: 7th Oct, 2019

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana

Beneficial for small and marginal farmers and in geographies where water sources are available.
Ensure ‘more crop per drop’ which will cover 28.5 lakh hectare area under irrigation.
5000 crore fund for micro-irrigation has been made available .
Also, encouragement for farmers to install solar pumps for irrigation.

Credit for Farmers

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is the biggest risk cover and safety net provided by the government.
Under the interest subvention scheme, short-term crop loans up to 3 lakh with interest rate of 7 per cent per annum has been made available.Soil Health Card
Government has dispatched more than 13 crore Soil Health Cards from 2015-18.
Soil Health Cards carry crop-specific recommendations for nutrients and fertilizers to help farmers improve their productivity.

Neem Coated Urea

To boost the growth of wheat and paddy, and curb the black marketeering and hoarding of urea.
Government of India has made use of neem-coated urea mandatory.

Marketing the Farmers Produce (e-NAM)

It has integrated 585 markets across 16 states and 2 union territories.
22,000 Rural Haats will turn into Gramin Agriculture Market which will benefit 86 per cent small farmers.
Address price volatility of perishable items like tomato, potato and onion.

Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF)

To facilitate the States in mobilizing the resources for expanding coverage of Micro irrigation.
Bringing additional coverage through special and innovative initiatives by State Governments.

Agriculture Contingency Plan

ICAR has prepared district level Contingency Fund to tackle the monsoon situations leading to drought and floods, extreme events affecting crops, livestock and fisheries.

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

To promote organic farming in the country
To improve soil health and increase net income of the farmer so as to realise premium prices.

Facts and Data:

Agriculture consumes 60 per cent of available water resources.
47 percent of agricultural land area is under irrigation.
The private sector constitutes less than 2.5 percent share in total investments in agriculture.
About 14 percent of gross value added in agriculture is invested in the sector.
Corpus of Rs 10,000 crore has been set up to create infrastructure in fisheries, aquaculture and animal husbandry.
Agriculture production in 2017-18 with 279.51 million tonnes of foodgrain production