(a) the details of the Government’s contingency plans to deal with a sub-par monsoon as the Indian Meteorological Department predicted average monsoon rains this year and Indian agriculture is said to be a ‘gamble on the monsoon’; and
(b) the measures taken by the Government for ensuring adequate insurance coverage against crop losses and a pro-active trade policy on agri-commodities?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) along with different State Agricultural Universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras has prepared the District Agriculture Contingency Plans for 650 agriculturally predominant districts of the country. All these district agricultural plans are shared with the States for holding need based State Level Interface Meetings and for their implementation. All these plans are also uploaded on the websites of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India (http://agricoop.nic.in/agriculture-contingency-plan-listing) and also on the ICAR - CRIDA website (http://www.crida.in).
(b) Government has introduced yield based Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and weather index based Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) from Kharif 2016 to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities, adverse weather incidence and to stabilize the income of farmers etc. Under PMFBY, immediate relief is also provided to insured farmers in case of adverse seasonal conditions during the crop season due to which expected yield during the season is likely to be less than 50% of the Threshold Yield in the concerned insurance unit.
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) including representatives of Department of Commerce, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare has been constituted with the mandate to monitor closely both the domestic and global price situation for different commodities, and recommend to Government the needed changes in agri trade policy keeping in mind the conflicting interests of the producers and the consumers.
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