THE MINISTER OF AGRICUTLRURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a) Yes, Sir. National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) was jointly funded by World Bank and Govt. of India. The total budget of the project was Rs. 1344.62 Crore (Rs.1302.80 crore under NAIP and Rs.41.82 crore under Global Environment facilities). The NAIP was initiated on 18th September, 2006 for implementation and was closed on 30th June, 2014.
The overall objective of NAIP was to facilitate an accelerated and sustainable transformation of the Indian agriculture from self-sufficiency to market orientation, so that it could support poverty alleviation and income generation through collaborative development and application of agricultural innovations by the public organizations in partnership with private sector, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), farmers’ groups, and other stakeholders.
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(b) Rs. 1344.32 crore was utilized during the duration of the project which is almost 100% of the sanctioned budget.
(c) The sub project under component III of NAIP focused on providing sustainability and livelihood security to rural population in 91 disadvantaged targeted districts. Farmers were motivated to adopt newer technologies. Integrated farming systems approaches were identified and implemented. These included Management of Natural Resources, improved cultivation practices, promotion of Horticulture, livestock-based farming systems and other income generating activities. In all, 426 new technologies were demonstrated in the project among 176519 direct beneficiaries / farmers.
The interventions which yielded high response from the community were included in value chain approach. The some of the sustainable models in this approach were:-
i. Linseed production and processing in backward districts of Maharashtra;
ii. Redgram transplanting and processing in Bidar (Karnataka);
iii. Turmeric production and processing in Siaha (Mizoram);
iv. Large cardamom production and processing (Sikkim);
v. ''Kadaknath'' poultry conservation in Madhya Pradesh;
vi. Livestock value chain in Maharashtra.
(d) The National Agricultural Innovation Project had an in-built Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) mechanism that enabled monitoring at three different but distinct levels – Consortium, Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and external independent evaluation. The purpose of M&E was to track the results and facilitate faster and smoother implementation of the sub-projects.
Outcome of the assessment:
• Researchers have learnt to shift from uni-discipline mode of functioning to multidisciplinary research in National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) and now multi-organizations collaborations in NAIP.
• Researchers have understood about harnessing comparative advantage in action research.
• Public sector organizations could leverage on the ability of the NGOs in mobilizing people in difficult areas and executing action research.
• Researchers thought out of box towards post funding sustainability of the projects in terms of sustainability fund, social mobilization, self-help and producer groups.
Some of the steps taken by the Government under NAIP to help farmers to overcome their difficulties by imparting new strategies and innovative solutions through some sustainability plans are given below.
• Efforts were made for Creation of sustainability fund, where beneficiary farmers’ contribution for the goods and services delivered to them individually under the project and an amount of Rs 7.51 crores was generated by all the Consortia of NAIP.
• Millet foods value chain sub-project at the Directorate of Sorghum Research (DSR) has received support from the Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Programme (INSIMP) for further research in millets and its promotion for the benefit of farmers.
• NAIP Saffron value chain sub-project at the Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology (SKUAST)-Kashmir was further supported from the National Saffron Mission for the procurement of saffron from Jammu and Kashmir farmers.
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• To promote flowers and agroforestry, sub-projects at Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) have evolved as sustainable business models, and MoUs worth Rs10.0 crore were undertaken.
• The Pashmina project at SKUAST-Kashmir has received Rs10 crore support from the Central Wool Board to promote pashmina production and further research.
• The sub-project on small pelagic and freshwater fish at the Central Institute for Fish Technology, Cochin has received support from the Fisheries Department of Kerala Government for further research.
(e) To accelerate the sustainable transformation of Indian agriculture in support of poverty alleviation and income generation the following step were taken by Union Government.
The Government has adopted several developmental programmes, schemes, reforms and policies that focus on higher incomes for the farmers. All these policies & programmes are being supported by higher budgetary allocations, non-budgetary financial resources by way of creating Corpus Funds like Micro Irrigation Fund and Agri-marketing Fund to strengthen eNAM and GrAMs, Market Reforms like Model APLMC (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2017, Establishment of 22,000 number of Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAMs), Agri-Export Policy, The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act., 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act., 2020, Amendments to Essential Commodities Act, 1955, Promotion of 10,000 FPOs and supplementary income transfers under PM-KISAN, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY), Increase in Minimum Support Price (MSPs) for all Kharif & Rabi Crops, Har Med Par Ped, Bee-Keeping, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, Blue Revolution, Interest Subvention Scheme, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), etc. The latest major intervention includes the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat – Agriculture’ which includes comprehensive market reforms and creation of ‘Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF)’ worth Rs. 1.00 lakh crores. In the Budget Announcement 2021-22, allocation to Micro Irrigation Fund has been doubled to Rs 10000.00 crores and Institutional Credit has been increased to Rs 16.50 lakh crores.
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