(a) whether the Government proposes to provide fertiliser subsidy directly to the farmers from the next financial year;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the details of the provisions made to ensure that the dry land farmers including of Vidarbha region who use very little chemical fertilisers due to paucity of water during most of the seasons and farmers who adopt organic farming would be benefited from such new subsidy norms?
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) & (b): No, Madam. There is no proposal to provide fertilizer subsidy directly
to the farmers from the next financial year. The nutrient based subsidy, effective from
01-04-2010, will be released through the industry in the first phase.
(c): There is no specific provision for dryland farmers including Vidarbha region who
use little chemical fertilizers and the farmers who adopt organic farming. However, there
is provision under the centrally sponsored National Project on Management of Soil Health &
Fertility for promotion of organic manuring with assistance @ Rs.500 per hectare.