(a) whether NABARD has launched sustainable farming practices in order to augment productivity of the main crops through adoption of appropriate technologies;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the extent to which it is likely to increase income of the farmers;
(d) whether the said programme has been launched in all the States including Orissa; and
(e) if so, the details thereof and if not the steps being taken to include other States including Orissa?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (PROF. K.V. THOMAS)
(a): Yes, Madam. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has
launched a pilot project on augmenting productivity of lead crops and activities through
adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.
(b): The project aims at improving farmer’s income by improving productivity of lead crops/
activities through adoption of appropriate technologies, reduction in costs and better price
for the produce by way of value addition. In the identified villages, the project will focus
on selected location specific lead crops/activities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables,
fruit crops, dairy, silvi-pasture, etc.
Under this project, 4 to 6 clusters comprising of 5 villages per cluster in every state
will be identified. The basic criteria for selection of villages are:
(i) Villages where the yield gap is high (Yield gap is difference between the average
yield of lead crops obtained in the selected villages and that of the progressive farmers.)
(ii) The cluster of villages should have active Farmers Clubs (FCs) or well functioning
Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACS). Preference will be given to those
clusters of villages where Common Service Centres (CSC) of Government of India have already
been established.
(iii) Presence Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), agri input outlets, soil-testing facilities and
suitable Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in near-by areas.
All farmers of the cluster may be part of farmer’s collectives like Primary Agricultural
Cooperative Credit Societies/Mutually Aided Cooperative ocieties/Producer Companies etc.
The project is planned to be implemented over a period of three years and envisages
convergence with the development interventions of Central/State Government /State Agriculture
Universities/Krishi Vigyan Kendras/ Commodity Boards/Corporate Social Responsibility schemes
as also with the existing schemes of NABARD.
(c): It is expected that after completion of the project, the gap between average
productivity of lead crops/activities generally obtained by farmers in the cluster and the
yield obtained by progressive farmers would be bridged by atleast 50% and the average
income of the farmers may go up by 30%.
(d) & (e): The project has so far been launched in Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu. In Orissa, six districts namely, Balasore, Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh,
Dhenkanal and Mayurbhanj have been identified for launching of the project. NABARD has
also initiated process for launching of project in other states.