Current schemes under Ministry of Agriculture

Current scheme running under ministry of Agriculture:-

Ministry of agriculture has three following departments:

1.Dept of agriculture,cooperation and farmers welfare

2.Dept of Agricultural research and education

3.Dept of animal husbandry,diaring and farming

agriculture,farming and farmers welfare  started an umbrella scheme, Krishionnati Yojana,under which major programmes of Agriculture are working.

Schemes under Krishionnati Yojana:

1. National Food Security Mission:-

objective:- augmented production of Rice,Wheat,pulses and coarse cereals. 

National Food Security Mission was launched in 2007- 08 to increase the production of rice, wheat and pulses by 10,8 and 2 million tonnes, respectively by the end of 11th Plan through area expansion and productivity enhancement; restoring soil fertility and productivity; creating employment opportunities; and enhancing farm level economy. The Mission is being continued during 12th Five Year Plan with new target of additional production of 25 million tonnes of foodgrains comprising 10 million tonnes of rice, 8 million tonnnes of wheat, 4 million tonnes of pulses and 3 million tonnes of coarse cereals by the end of the 12th Plan.

The major interventions/activities covered under NFSM include cluster demonstrations of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals, distribution of improved varieties/hybrid seeds, need based plant and soil management, farm mechanization, resource conservation techniques/energy management, efficient water/application tools, cropping system based trainings and local initiatives, etc. NFSM- coarse cereals and NFSM-commercial crops are included under revamped NFSM. From 2014-15, NFSM is being implemented in 623 districts of 28 states. From the year 2015-16, the programme is being implemented on a fund sharing ratio of 50:50 between Government of India and states. The budget allocation of NFSM in 2015-16 is ₹ 1,300.00 crore (Central share). 

2. National Food Security Mission on Commercial Crops:-

Objective:- augmented production of commercial crops but at present,this mission is dealing with cotton,jute and Sugar Cane.

The Government of India has approved crop development programme on cotton, jute and sugarcane for enhancing productivity under  National Food Security Mission-Commercial Crops (NFSM-CC) from 2014-15. Under this scheme, the thrust is on transfer of technology through frontline demonstrations and trainings. Under the NFSM-CC, an allocation of ₹ 5,204.10 lakh has been made for 2015-16 for states which would be implemented with a sharing pattern of 50:50 between Centre and states; and an amount of ₹ 564.10 lakh for Central agencies which is being implemented with 100 per cent funding by Central Government. 

3. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) :- 

Objective:- Augmented production of vegetables and other horticulture products.

India has a wide and varied horticulture base, which includes fruits, vegetables, tuber crops, mushrooms, spices and aromatic plants, flowers and foliage and plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, cashew nut, cocoa and bamboo. Horticulture sector has been an engine of growth for rural economy while providing food and nutritional security to the people. Implementation of the centrally Sponsored and Central Sector Schemes during 11th Plan, viz., three missions of : (i) National Horticulture Mission, (ii) Horticulture Mission for north-east and Himalayan States (HMNEH) and (iii) National Bamboo Mission, and three Central Sector Schemes viz. National Horticulture Board, Coconut Development Board and Central Institute for Horticulture, Nagaland has provided necessary stimulus to the horticulture sector, which has enabled to achieve a healthy growth rate in the sector. Implementation of these schemes during 11th Plan has enabled to bring an additional area of 23.5 lakh ha under horticultural crops along with setting up of supporting infrastructure for post-harvest management to reduce post harvest losses and markets for better price realization of the produce. Horticulture production touched the level of 277 million tonnes in 2013-14, which increased to 283 million tonnes as per second Advance Estimate in 2014-15. 

The emphasis of MIDH is on production of quality seeds and planting material, production enhancement through productivity improvement measures along with support for creation of infrastructure to reduce post harvest losses and improved marketing of produce with active participation of all stakeholders, particularly farmer groups and farmer producer organizations. 

4 National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm :- 

Objective:- Augmented Production of oil seeds.

National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) envisages increase in production of vegetable oils sourced from oilseeds, oil palm and tree borne oilseeds from 7.06 million tonnes to 9.51 million tonnes by the end of 12th Plan (2016- 17). The Mission is being implemented through three mini missions with specific target. 

The strategy to implement the proposed mission will include increasing seed replacement ratio) with focus on varietal replacement; increasing irrigation coverage under oilseeds from 26 per cent to 36 per cent; diversification of area from low yielding cereals crops to oilseeds crops; inter- cropping of oilseeds with cereals/pulses/sugarcane; use of fallow land after paddy potato cultivation; expansion of cultivation of oil palm in watersheds and wastelands; increasing availability of quality planting materials of oil palm. 

5 National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture : -

Objective:-  its objective is to inculcate Sustainable farming methods in agriculture through organic farming and other techniques.

(NMSA) as a programmatic intervention made operational from the year 2014-15 aims at making agriculture more productive, sustainable and remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific integrated/composite farming systems; soil and moisture conservation measures; comprehensive soil health management; efficient water management practices and mainstreaming rainfed technologies. 

i) Soil health card scheme:-

 objective: mais objective is to disseminate the knowledge about the land specific nutrients.This scheme includes 12 parameters of the soil such as Ph,Electric conductivity, Organic Carbon , Macro Nutrients(N,P,K,Sulphur), Micro nutrients ( Zinc,Iron,boron,copper and Manganese)

This scheme has been approved for implementation during XII Plan with an outlay of ₹ 568.54 crore. Under this scheme Soil Health Card (SHC) will be provided to all farmers in the country at an interval of three years so as to enable them to apply appropriate

recommended dosages of nutrients for crop production and improving soil health and its fertility. 

For successful implementation of this scheme funds to the tune of ₹ 23.56 crore were provided to states during 2014-15 for making initial preparation like training for soil sampling and awareness creation, etc. Funds to the tune of ₹ 96.46 crore have been allocated to states for 2015-16. The quality of soil testing and fertilizer recommendation depends upon soil sampling; therefore following uniform norms are prescribed for sampling: in the irrigated areas, samples will be drawn in a grid of 2.5 ha; in rain-fed areas, sampling will be done in a 10 ha grid; and in all, 253 lakh samples will be tested to generate 14 crore soil health cards in three years period.

After collection of soil samples, testing will be done for 12 parameters viz. pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, sulphur, zinc, iron, copper, manganese and boron and SHC will be generated and given to every farmer. Application software for online generation of SHCs and fertilizer recommendations have been developed and rolled out. 

ii)Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojana:-

Objective:- its objective is to encourage farmers to take up Organic Farming.

Government is implementing a cluster based programme to encourage the farmers for promoting organic farming called Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY). Under this programme, group of farmers would be motivated to take up organic farming. Fifty or more farmers will form a cluster having 50 acre land to take up organic farming under the Lakh scheme. In this way during three years (2015-16 to 2017-18)10,000 clusters will be formed covering 5.0 lakh acre area under organic farming. There will be no liability on the farmers for expenditure on certification. Every farmer will be provided ₹ 20,000 per acre over three years to meet end to end expenditure—seed to harvesting of crops to transport of produce to the market. Organic farming will be promoted by using traditional resources and the organic products will be linked with the market. It will increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers. In order to implement the PKVY in the year 2015-16, an amount of ₹ 300 crore has been allocated. 

6 National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology:-

The aim of the National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) is to restructure and strengthen agricultural extension to enable delivery of appropriate technology and improved agronomic practices to the farmers consists of four sub-missions namely :

 (i) On agriculture extension; (ii) Seed and planting material; (iii) Agriculture mechanization; and (iv) Plant protection and plant quarantine. 

While four separate sub-missions are included in NMAET for administrative convenience, on the ground these are inextricably linked to each other. The common threads running across all these are extension and technology. 

i)Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms

ii)Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension and Focused Publicity Campaign 

iii)Agri-Clinic and Agri-Business Centres

iv)Information dissemination through Agri-Fairs

v)National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture

vi)Kisan Call Centres (KCC):-1800 180 1551

vii)Farmers’ Portal: 

This portal aims to serve as a ‘One Stop’ for all the farmers for accessing information on agricultural activities. Besides giving links to appropriate pages of the 80 portals already developed so far, the Farmers’ Portal links the location of the farmer with National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) Zone that he belongs to. Thereafter, all information related to the crops grown in that area (coupled with agro-climatic conditions in that region) is then provided to the farmers using a graphical interface. Farmers can get information about package of practices; crop and seed varieties; common pests; dealer network for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; machinery and tools; agro-met advisories, etc.

viii) m-Kisan Portal: 

This portal subsumes all mobile based initiatives in the field of agriculture and allied sectors. It brings together SMS (both Push and Pull), interactive voice response system, unstructured supplementary services of DATA or USSD (which is essentially Interactive SMS and can facilitate data entry and query on Web Portals without internet), mobile apps and services. Officers, scientists and experts from all over the country are using this portal for disseminating information on various agricultural activities to registered farmers. More than 1,010 crore SMSs have been sent to farmers by all agencies/ organizations/departments in this sector down to the block level since its inception. The content may include information about the schemes, advisories from experts, market prices, weather reports, soil test reports, etc. The farmers registered for receiving SMS messages have been grouped based on the state, district, block and the crops/activities selected by respective farmers.

ix)DD Kisan Channel: 

‘DD Kisan’, India’s first television channel dedicated to farmers was launched. This 24x7 channel telecasts updated information on agriculture and related subject for the benefit of its target audience including cattle rearers, bee keepers, poultry owners, mechanics and craftsmen. This includes information broadcast on the changing weather condition well in advance, and the low cost measures to protect crops/enhance produce during such conditions. Advices of IMD and agricultural scientists are broadcast periodically to the farmers so that they may know about the crop diseases, ways to protect from such diseases and on how to increase the yield. The channel gives information on newer ways of agricultural practices being followed world over and the R and D in the agri sector across the world. 

7) Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing: Its basic objective is to provide farmers with

access to more markets with adequate modern infrastructure to enable them to realize better prices on the one hand and to provide quality products to consumers at stable and affordable prices on the other. The ISAM consists of five ongoing sub schemes which were merged from 2014 to provide a single window for all agri-marketing options and for better implementation.

8) Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census and Statistics : The overall objective of the scheme is to collect, compile and maintain database on different facets of the agriculture sector, study and analyse the socio-economic conditions of the agricultural sector and provide policy inputs. The scheme is implemented through active involvement of all agencies in states so as to provide reliable inputs in time-bound manner on different facets of agriculture sector to facilitate the government policy formulation using modern technology.

9) Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Cooperation : Co-operatives are important institutional systems for promoting economic development of agricultural and rural economy. Co-operatives are engaged in several economic activities such as disbursement of credit, distribution of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers and agro-chemicals and in arranging storage, processing and marketing of farm produce.

10) Investment in Debentures of State Land Development Banks : Special Debentures are floated by State Land Development Banks (SLDBs)/State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDBs) for minor irrigation, horticulture/plantation, farm mechanization, land improvement, customization of compound walls, cattle sheds, farmhouses which are contributed to by NABARD, Central and State Governments.

11) National Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund : This is a Central Sector Scheme on Promotion of National Agricultural Market through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF). ₹ 200 crore has been approved and is to be implemented during 2014-15 to 2016-17. In brief, it is proposed to utilize the ATIF for migrating towards a national market through implementation of an appropriate e-market platform that would be deployable in wholesale markets across states and union territories.

12) Price Stabilization Fund for Cereals and Vegetables : The Government has approved the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) as a Central Sector Scheme, with a corpus of ₹ 500 crore, to advance interest free loans to states and central/ state agencies to support their working capital and other expenses on procurement interventions for perishable agri-horticultural commodities when prices crash and farmers need to be protected. Alternatively, when prices are anticipated to increase substantially, then procurement of these commodities could be undertaken from farm gate/mandi to reduce the cost of intermediation and make them available at a cheaper price to the consumers. The intervention is thus expected to regulate price volatility of agricultural and horticultural commodities both when there is price rise or vice versa. Currently it is operational only for onion and potato.

13)Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana

To boost irrigation facilities, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) has been formulated to provide end-to-end solutions in irrigation supply chain, viz. water sources, and distribution network and farm level applications. A budget provision of ₹ 5,300 crore for 2015-16 has been made for implementation of PMKSY. The PMKSY programme will focus on : 

i) ensuring access to water to every agriculture farm (Har Khet Ko Pani);

ii) increasing agricultural production and productivity by increasing availability and efficient use of water;

iii) providing flexibility and autonomy to states in the progress of planning and executing programmes; and 

iv) ensuring a holistic approach by way of preparation of comprehensive district and state irrigation plans. 

14) National Crop Insurance Programme

With a view to provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers including small and marginal farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of non-preventable natural calamities, pests and diseases, adverse weather conditions and to stabilize farm income particularly in disaster years, Government has introduced Crop Insurance Schemes since 1985. To make the crop insurance schemes more farmer-friendly, recently, a restructured Central Sector Scheme namely ‘National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP)’ has been approved by merging the Pilot Schemes of Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) and Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS) with some improvements for full fledged implementation as component schemes from Rabi 2013-14 season throughout the country.

15)Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) launched in 2007-08 with an outlay of ₹ 25,000 crore for the 11th Plan, aims at incentivizing states to enhance investments in agriculture and allied sectors to achieve 4 per cent annual growth rate in this sector during the plan period and to empower states to select, plan, approve and execute growth generating interventions and build agri-infrastructure as per states’ priorities and agro-climatic requirements. RKVY has succeeded in encouraging states to allocate more funds to this sector. Allocation to this sector was 4.88 per cent of total state plan expenditure in 2006-07. This has gone up to 8.36 per cent in 2013-14. An amount of ₹ 22,408.77 crore was released for implementation of the scheme during the 11th Plan period.

i)Saffron Mission : The scheme was initiated in 2010-11 for revival of saffron cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir. During 2015-16, ₹ 50 crore has been allocated for this scheme.

ii)Vidarbha Intensive Irrigation Development Programme: The objective of the Scheme is to conserve the soil and build check dams and initiate in situ soil moisture conservation. During the 12th Five Year Plan from 2012-13 to 2016-17, a total package of ₹ 3,250 crore was allocated for this programme, out of which ₹ 1,459 crore has been allocated for small scale irrigation and ₹ 1,791 crore for agriculture inclusive of ₹ 1,241.5 crore for soil conservation.

iii)Crop Diversification in Original Green Revolution States : Crops Diversification Programme is being implemented in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh since 2013-14 to diversify cropping pattern from water guzzling paddy to pulses, oilseeds, maize and agro forestry with the objective of tracking the problem of declining of soil fertility and depleting water table in these states. Cluster demonstrations of alternate crops, farm mechanization and value addition, site specific activities and awareness campaign/training are major interventions of the programme. From the year 2015-16, the programme is implemented on 50:50 sharing basis between the Centre and states. The budget allocation of ₹ 125.00 crore has been made as Central share for implementation of the programme during 2015-16.

16)Initiative for increasing flow of credit

i)Farm credit package : The target for the year 2014-15 was fixed at ₹ 800,000 crore and achievement is ₹ 8,45,328 crore upto March, 2015. The target for 2015-16 is ₹ 8,50,000 crore.

ii)Interest subvention : Government of India had announced an Interest Subvention Scheme in 2006-

07 to enable banks to provide short term credit to agriculture (crop loan) upto ₹ 3 lakh at 7 per cent

rate of interest to farmers. Further, to incentivize prompt repayment, an additional interest subvention of 1 per cent to those farmers who repay their short term crop loans promptly and on or before the due date was also announced. This interest subvention was subsequently raised to 2 per cent in 2010-11 and 3 per cent in 2011-12. This is being extended thereafter from year to year continued during 2015-16 also and the Ministry of Finance has kept a provision of ₹ 13,000 crore for the purpose. Thus, farmers, who promptly repay their crop loans are extended loans at an effective interest rate of 4 per cent p. a. In 2013-14, the Government has extended the scheme to crop loans borrowed from private sector scheduled commercial banks in respect of loans given within the service area of branch concerned.

iii)Extension of interest subvention scheme to post harvest loans : In order to discourage distress sale by farmers and to encourage them to store their produce in warehouses against warehouse receipts, the benefit of interest subvention scheme has been extended to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period of upto six months post harvest at the same rate as available to crop loan against negotiable warehouse receipt for keeping their produce in warehouses.

iv)Interest subvention in the event of natural calamity: The Standing Guidelines of Reserve Bank of India restrict short term crop loans upon declaration of natural calamity. Such restricting of crop loans converts them into term loans. Resultantly, a crop loan continues at concessional rate of interest viz., 7 per cent till completion of one year. Thereafter, the interest at normal rate is charged.

v)Collateral free loans : The limit of collateral free loans stands increased from ₹ 50,000 to ₹ 1,00,000.

vi)Kisan Credit Card Scheme : In order to ensure that all eligible farmers are provided with hassle free and timely credit for their agricultural operation, Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme was introduced in 1998-99. Marginal farmers, share croppers, oral lessee and tenant farmers are eligible to be covered under the scheme. The main objectives of the scheme are to meet the short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops, post harvest expenses, produce marketing loan, consumption requirements of farmer household, working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to agriculture like dairy animals, inland fishery, etc., investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities like pump sets, sprayers, dairy animals, etc. The State Governments have been advised to launch an intensive branch/village level campaign to provide Kisan Credit Card to all the eligible and willing farmers in a time bound manner. KCCs have now been converted into Smart Card cum Debit Cards to facilitate their operation through ATMs.

vii)Short-Term Rural Cooperative Credit Structure : The Government has implemented a package for revival of short-term rural cooperative credit structure in the country. The revival package was aimed at reviving/ strengthening the Short-Term Rural Cooperative Credit Structure (CCS) and make it a well-managed and vibrant medium to serve the credit needs of rural India, especially the small and marginal farmers. It seeks to: (a) provide financial assistance to cooperative banks/primary agriculture cooperative societies to bring the system to an acceptable level of health; (b) introduce legal and institutional reform necessary for their democratic, self-reliant and efficient functioning; and (c) take measures to improve the quality of management.

Those states choosing to participate in the revival package will be entitled for financial assistance through the mechanism of a formal MOU or Exchange of Letters with the legal and institutional reforms envisaged. Financial assistance for STCCS under the package which has been

estimated at ₹ 13,596 crore will be available for cleansing of balance sheet and increasing the capital to a specified minimum level. In order to ensure that the CCS continues on sound financial, managerial and governance norms, technical assistance will also be provided to upgrade institutional and human resources of the CCS, computerization and building up of proper internal control and accounting system. The package seeks to bring down the interference of the State Governments in the credit cooperatives and suitable amendments to the State Cooperative Societies Act and Banking Regulation Act have been proposed in the package. These form part of the important conditions to be complied with under it.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Agriculture research and education in India is spearheaded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous organization under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India. This apex body is mandated for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture and allied activities. It has the largest network of agricultural research and education in the world with 109 institutes, 78 all India coordinated projects/networks, 642 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), 71 state agricultural/ veterinary/horticultural/fishery universities and four general universities with agricultural faculty spread across the country.

The ICAR has made special concerted efforts to minimize the adverse effects of delayed monsoon. It formulated specific contingency plans for 580 districts in 23 states and took proactive action to encounter drought like situation due to delay in the onset of monsoon. Farmers were advised on alternate crops that need less water and can tolerate longer intervening spells of no- rains. Adequate stocks of seeds of alternate crops were arranged. Farmers were advised to take up in situ moisture conservation measures in view of proven benefits under low rainfall situations. Special teams including scientists visited the cyclone affected areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to salvage the damage caused by cyclone Hudhud and floods in the country.

Taking a step towards twenty first century agriculture, the Council has developed land resource inventories (1:10000 scale) for 32 blocks, land resource atlas of 32 districts (1:50,000), soil maps of 82 districts (1:50000), soil resource maps for 267 watersheds (1:4000/1:10000) and harmonized, characterized and quantified 120 m ha of degraded land. The Government has emphasized on soil health for better crop productivity, therefore the Council has developed i) user friendly soil testing kits, ii) soil testing labs, iii) practices for balanced use of fertilizers and iv) promoted use of organic manure and rain water harvesting.

The Council is the enabler for climate resilient agriculture through developing technologies/ practices for i) groundwater management, ii) short duration and contingent crops and seed storage, iii) community nurseries, iv) village climate risk management committees, v) custom hiring centres for farm implements, vi) feed blocks and animal vaccines and vii) agro-advisories. The Council is dedicated to work for per drop more crop through resource and water conservation technologies.

The Council strived to develop new crop varieties having specific traits that improve yield and nutritional quality along with tolerance/resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses besides matching crop production and protection technologies for target agro-ecologies. One hundred fifty-five new improved varieties/hybrids of field crops were released in varied agro-climatic regions. To sustain effective seed chain and ensure availability of quality seed to the farmers, 9,495 tonnes of breeder seeds, 14,437 tonnes of foundation seeds, 16,347 tonnes of certified seeds, 17,235

tonnes of truthfully labelled seeds and 7319 tonnes of quality planting materials were produced during 2013-14. Efforts to conserve biodiversity and its effective utilization have been the major thrust. Application of tools of modern biology in agriculture has resulted in development and commercialization of many disease resistant, submergence tolerant and transgenic varieties. The Council is aiming to increase area under cultivation of pulses to 27.5 million ha and productivity to one tonnes /ha.

Agricultural mechanization plays a complementary role in increasing production, productivity and profitability in agriculture by achieving timeliness in farm operations, bringing precision in metering and placement of inputs thereby reducing input losses and unit cost of production. Large number of manual, animal drawn, self-propelled, power tiller and tractor operated equipment and machinery have been developed and are commercially available for carrying out different farm operations in major crops. The present trend is towards use of high capacity and energy efficient machinery such as laser guided land leveler, rotavator, planters, zero-till drill, self-propelled rice transplanter, threshers (multi-crop and paddy) and combine harvesters on custom hiring.

The Council took initiatives to assess harvest and post-harvest losses for 45 crops. The engineering and technological interventions in this context are important to reduce the losses. Lot of emphasis is being laid on food safety. Around 100 food testing laboratories have come up in private and public sector in the country and provide testing of food products for chemical and microbiological testing. Many of these laboratories are equipped to test the food products for pesticide residues, toxins and heavy metals, etc.

The Council is also popularizing the floating and vertical farming in horticulture to enhance the productivity with lower cost. The council is doing pioneering efforts for breeding of the precious fish of eastern India, Hilsa, towards its aquaculture.

The Council is promoting small smart machines in agriculture in form of sensors and cameras in fields and farm equipment for water levels in irrigation and soil, early detection of pests, emission sensors, tagging livestock, natural resources and trucks and shipping containers and market and banking, etc. It is trying to take Indian agriculture to next level by providing IT environment for agri-system management. It has taken number of steps towards digitization of agricultural databases and creation of e-resources. It is also promoting PPP model of agri- advisories though m-KRISHI.

The Council has launched number of new initiatives. Farmer FIRST (Farmer, Innovation, Resources, Science and Technology) aims at enriching farmers-scientists interface for technology development and application. Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship and Awareness Development Yojana) is to integrate skill building and business module in agricultural education to capacitate the students to emerge as agri-entrepreneurs. ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture) is an innovative program to retain the rural youth in agriculture and develop a comprehensive policy for development of youth in rural areas and recognize the requirements of the new-age farmers and endeavour to fulfill the same. Mera Gaon, Mera Gaurav involves agricultural experts from agricultural universities and ICAR institutes for effective and deeper reach of scientific farming to the villages. A group of experts will be associated with one identified village to create awareness and adoption of new technologies including farm investment, loans, availability of inputs and marketing.

Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries

The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries is one of the Departments under the Ministry of Agriculture. The Department is responsible for matters relating to livestock production, preservation, protection and improvement of stocks, dairy development, matters relating to the Delhi Milk Scheme and the National Dairy Development Board. It also looks after all matters pertaining to fisheries, which includes inland and marine sectors and matters related to the National Fisheries Development Board.

Functions
The Department advises the State Governments and Union Territories in the formulation of policies and programmes in the field of animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries. The main focus of the activities is on : (a) development of requisite infrastructure in states/union territories for improving animal productivity; (b) promoting infrastructure for handling, processing and marketing of milk and milk products; (c) preservation and protection of livestock through provision of health care; (d) strengthening of central livestock farms (cattle, sheep and poultry) for development of superior germplasm for distribution to states; and (e) expansion of aquaculture in fresh and brackish water, development of marine fisheries infrastructure and post harvest operations and welfare of fisherfolk, etc.

Animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries activities play an important role in national economy and in socio-economic development of the country. These activities have contributed to the food basket, nutrition security, household income of the farmers and play a significant role in generating gainful employment in the rural areas, particularly among the landless, small and marginal farmers and women, besides providing cheap and nutritious food. Livestock are the best insurance for farmers against vagaries of nature like drought and other natural calamities.

Dairy Development
Demand of milk in the country is expected to reach upto 150 million tonnes by the end of year 2016-17 and upto 210 million tonnes by 2021-22. The Dairy sector India has grown substantially over the years. As a result of prudent policy intervention, India ranks first among the world’s milk producing nations, achieving an annual output of 145 million tonnes (Provisional) during the year 2014-15 as compared to 137.68 million tonnes during 2013-14 recording a growth of 5.32 per cent. The anticipated milk production in the country for the year 2015-16 is about 148 million tonnes. This represents a sustained growth in the availability of milk and milk products for growing population.
Dairying has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural families and has assumed the most important role in providing employment and income generating opportunities particularly for women and marginal farmers. The per capita availability of milk has reached a level of 302 grams per day during the year 2013-14, which is more than the world average of 294 grams per day. Most of the milk in the country is produced by small, marginal farmers and landless labours. About 15.46 million farmers have been brought under the ambit of 1,62,186 village level dairy corporative societies up to March 2014. The cooperative milk unions have procured an average of 39.2 million kg of milk per day during the year 2014-15 as compared to 34.2 million kg in the previous year recording a growth of 12.5 per cent. The sale of liquid milk by cooperative sector has reached 29.9 million litres per day during the year 2014-15 as compared to 28 million tonnes registering a growth of 6.8 per cent over the previous year.
The efforts of the Department in the Dairy sector are concentrated on promotion of dairy
activities including non-operation flood areas with emphasis on building up cooperative

infrastructure, revitalization of sick dairy cooperative milk unions and creation of infrastructure inthe states for production of quality milk and milk products. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) continues its activities for overall development of the Sector in Operation Flood areas. The brief details of Dairy Development Schemes being implemented by this Department are as follows:

National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development
A new restructured scheme namely, National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development (NPBBDD), was launched in 2014 by merging three Dairy Development schemes of Intensive Dairy Development Programme (IDDP), Strengthening Infrastructure for Quality and Clean Milk Production (SIQandCMP) and Assistance to Cooperative (A to C) and National Programme for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding. The Scheme has two components: (a) National Programme for Bovine Breeding (NPBB); (b) National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD). The NPBB will focus on extension of field AI Net work through MAITRI (Multi Purpose AI Technician in Rural India) and to encourage conservation and development of recognized indigenous breeds of the country. The NPDD will focus on creating infrastructure related to production, procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk products by the State Implementing Agency (SIA) (State Milk Marketing Federations/ District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union) and manpower development activities including training of milk producers associated to dairy cooperative societies.
The budgetary provision of ₹ 1,800 crore has been provided for implementation of NPBBDD during 12th Plan and an amount of ₹ 150 crore has been allocated for the year 2015-16 under it. Out of it an amount ₹ 74 crore has been allocated for financial year 2015-16 under the component of NPDD.
Under NPDD Component, 15 new projects in four states have been approved with total outlay of ₹ 142.84 crore till March 2015. A total sum of ₹ 89.97 crore including ₹ 41.52 crore for new projects was released for implementation of projects approved under the scheme during the year 2014-15.
National Dairy Plan Phase-I
National Dairy Plan was launched in March 2013 with the objective of increasing productivity of milch animals and providing rural producers greater access to organized milk processing sector and is being implemented by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) focusing on 14 major milk producing states and Chhattisgarh. NDP-I has a total outlay of ₹ 2242 crore comprising external aid of ₹ 1584 crore and GoI share of ₹ 176 crore. An amount of ₹ 300 crore has been allocated for the current year 2015-16.
Up to March 2015, 288 sub projects from 16 States have been approved with a total outlay of ₹ 1,548.07 crore which includes 18 projects of project management and learning with total outlay of about ₹ 24.94 crore. Out of the total approvals, ₹ 1,313.30 crore would be grant assistance and ₹ 234.77 crore would be contributed by the EIAs.

Dairy Entrepreneurship Development

Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) was launched in September, 2010 with the objective for promotion of private investment in dairy sector to increase the milk production and helping in poverty reduction through self employment opportunities. This scheme is being implemented through NABARD which provide financial assistance to commercially bankable projects with loans from commercial, cooperative, urban and rural banks with a back ended capital subsidy of 25 per cent of the project cost to the beneficiaries of general category and 33.33 per cent of the project cost to SC and ST beneficiaries. The scheme is being continued with certain modifications and a budget provision of ₹ 1,400 crore during 12th Plan. An amount of ₹ 127 Crore has been allocated for the year 2015-16.

Since inception, an amount of ₹ 842.92 crore was disbursed by NABARD as back ended capital subsidy to the beneficiaries for setting up of 2,28,346 dairy units upto March 31, 2015.

National Livestock Mission

During the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, National Livestock Mission (NLM) is being implemented with the objectives of sustainable development of livestock sector, focusing on improving availability of quality feed and fodder, risk coverage, effective extension, skill development, improved flow of credit and organization of livestock farmers/rearers, etc. The other objectives are development of small ruminants, piggery and poultry, there are programmes for strengthening the state farms in terms of modernization, automation and biosecurity to enable production of improved breed of goats, sheep, pigs and stocks of low-input technology chicken. Further, the productivity enhancement component provides for supporting BPL families to encourage rearing of backyard poultry and community-led breed improvement programmes. Similarly, under the Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation component there is provision for a number of small ruminants, piggery and poultry farming and allied activities wherein back-ended capital subsidy is provided to the farmers.

Sub-Mission on Livestock Development

Sheep and Goat Development

According to Livestock Census 2012, there are about 65.07 million sheep and 135.2 million goats in the country. About five million households in the country are engaged in the rearing of small ruminants (sheep and goats) and other allied activities.

Central Sheep Breeding Farm

Central sheep Breeding Farm, Hisar is mandated to produce acclimatized exotic/ cross bred superior quality rams. During 2014-15 the farm supplied 783 rams and 131 bucks to different state agencies and farmers. In addition, a total of 783 farmers were trained in sheep management and production while another 171 farmers were trained in machine shearing techniques.

Conservation of Threatened Breeds

The population of purebred animals of some breed of small ruminants, equines, pigs and pack animal has come down considerably; in some cases, even below 10,000 numbers which has brought such breeds to the category of ‘threatened breeds’ in the country. A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for conservation of such threatened breeds was started during 10th Five Year Plan with a budget outlay of ₹ 15.00 crore. Farms/ farmer’s unit in their respective breeding tract are established under the scheme with 100 per cent central assistance. The conservation projects are being implemented by State Governments, universities and NGOs. During the 10th Plan period conservation projects for 27 breeds were taken up.

The Eleventh Plan allocation was enhanced to ₹ 45.00 crore. Poultry and duck breeds are also covered during 11th Plan whose population is around 1,000. During 2014-15, the scheme Conservation of Threatened Breed has been subsumed under National Livestock Mission (Component [V]) – Conservation of Livestock breeds under the Sub-Mission on Livestock Development). During 2014-15, two projects on conservation of threatened breed were undertaken in Arunachal Pradesh. These are ‘Establishment of Nucleus Breeding Farm for Yak’ and ‘Establishment of Pony Breeding Farm’ for which releases to the tune of ₹ 25.00 lakh and ₹ 32.41.00 lakh were made respectively.

Integrated Development of Small Ruminants and Rabbits

This Central Sector Scheme was approved in 2009 for implementation during XI Plan with an allocation of ₹ 134.825 crores. Allocation under the scheme during 2012-13 was ₹ 15.00 crore. The scheme envisages setting up of intensive small ruminant development clusters with venture capital through NABARD as well as infrastructure development and institutional restructuring through state implementing agency. During 2014-15, the scheme Integrated Development of Small Ruminants was subsumed under National Livestock Mission (Component [III]) – Integrated Development of Small Ruminants and Rabbits under the Sub-Mission on Livestock Development).

During 2014-15, three state goat farms and one state sheep breeding farm were assisted to strengthen and modernize their set-up and infrastructure. These farms include farms at Haringhata, West Bengal, at Hisar, Haryana at Nagaland and Odisha. Funds to the tune of ₹ 35.40 lakh, ₹ 115.50 lakh, ₹ 40.00 lakh and ₹ 24.75 lakh respectively, has been released for modernization and development of breeding infrastructure of these farms.

Meat and Pig Development

The pig farming constitutes the livelihood of rural poor belonging to the lowest socio-economic strata and they have no means to undertake scientific pig farming with improved foundation stock, proper housing, feeding and management. Therefore, suitable schemes to popularise the scientific pig breeding-cum-rearing of meat producing animals with adequate financial provisions are necessary to modernise the Indian pig industry and to improve the productivity of small sized rural pig farms. The component – Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation of the scheme-National Livestock Mission (NLM) encourages commercial rearing of pigs by adopting scientific methods and creation of infrastructure. The Mission also supports state pig breeding farms for strengthening of existing breeding infrastructure.

Implementing Agencies
Department of Animal Husbandry Dairy and Fishers (DADF) is implementing the centrally sponsored ‘Risk Management and Insurance’ as component of sub-mission on livestock development of NLM is implemented through the SIAs such as state livestock development board/agency which are also implementing national project for cattle and buffalo and breeding. In states/union territories where there are no SIAs, this scheme will be implemented through the state/union territory Animal Husbandry Departments.
Poultry Development
Poultry is one of the fastest growing subsectors of animal husbandry with annual growth rates of eggs of around 6 per cent per annum. The achievements and growth rates are being sustained despite the ingress of avian influenza which was a severe setback for the industry, showing the resilience of poultry sector, perseverance of the private sector and timely interventions by the government. A general guideline for biosecurity on poultry farms has been compiled and circulated to all states for taking preventive measures against ingress of diseases.

Modernization and Development of Breeding Infrastructure
Central Poultry Development Organizations
The CPDOs located at four regions viz., Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Hessarghatta have been playing a pivotal role in the implementation of the policies of the Government with respect to poultry. The mandate of these organizations has specially been reoriented to focus on improved birds, which lay on an average 180-200 eggs per annum and have vastly improved feed conversion ratio in terms of feed consumption and weight gain. In these CPDOs, training is also imparted to the farmers to upgrade their technical skills. CPDO and Training Institute, Hessarghatta is also imparting trainers’ training to in-service personnel from within the country as well as overseas. Analytical livestock and poultry feed testing is also conducted at the CPDOs. The CPDOs are also promoting diversification with species other than poultry, like ducks, Japanese quail, etc. The Central Poultry Performance Testing Center (CPPTC), located at Gurgaon is entrusted with responsibility of testing the performance of layer and broiler varieties. This centre gives valuable information relating to different genetic stock available in the country.
During 2014-15, around 0.80 lakh and 14.4 lakh number of parent chicks and commercial chicks respectively have been supplied by the CPDOs. Around 3,027 number of farmers and trainers have been trained and 5,223 number of feed samples have been analyzed.
Strengthening of Breeding Infrastructure
It aims at strengthening existing state poultry farms so as to enable the flow of suitable germplasm from the research institutions/laboratories to the grassroots level along with other technical services through capacity building of state poultry farms; and developing and implementing package of practices at the ground level for different types of poultry system including family poultry system for supplementary income generation and family nutrition. The assistance provided is 75 per cent Central share to all states/union territories. One time operational/revolving fund are provided to these farms for smooth operations maintenance to ensure long term sustainability. During the year 2014-15, 11 state poultry farms have been assisted under this component.
Interventions towards Productivity Enhancement
Rural Backyard Poultry Development
This component is envisaged to cover beneficiaries from Backward Poultry Development (BPL) families to enable them to gain supplementary income and nutritional support. Under this programme so far funding has been done to cover around 1.45 lakh BPL beneficiaries.
There has been persistent demand from the north-eastern states seeking support for all round development of pigs in the region. Therefore, pig development in the region is being implemented as a sub-mission of NLM. The sub-mission strives to forge synergies of research and development organizations through appropriate interventions, as required for holistic development of pigs in
the north-eastern region including genetic improvement and health cover. 

Under the scheme cultivation of fodder and preservation of fodder by using post harvest technologies is supported. Further, to improve the seed replacement scenario, this department has taken up production of foundation seeds from breeder seed at its eight regional fodder stations for last two years. For production of certified seeds from the foundation seeds, this department has introduced the component of ‘Fodder Seed Procurement and Distribution’. Under the programme, after producing the foundation seeds at all our regional stations, the same is being offered to the states for further multiplication by the state governments preferably through milk federations, dairy co-operatives and progressive farmers, etc. under buy back arrangement for production of certified seeds. For this assistance is provided to the states under the component fodder seed production/ procurement and distribution.
Sub-Mission on Skill Development, Technology Transfer and Extension
The component will provide extension, education, production of livestock, extension literature. The IEC programme for the state would be finalized by factoring in the specific characteristics of each district and block. In knowledge-driven development, there is need for providing extension education keeping in view the diverse needs of the livestock owners not only on production procedures, but also the knowledge about the whole range of livestock-business, production systems, research institutions, programmes and schemes of the development departments, quality certification and reporting procedures, grading, packaging, storage, transportation and other requirements of both domestic and export markets, including interfaces at different levels with unlimited partners. The development of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and telecommunication network have paved the way for creation of information network, knowledge pool and services which can be intensively used for the purpose.
Fisheries
India is the second largest producer of fish in the world contributing 5.68 per cent of global fish production. It is also a major producer of fish through aquaculture and ranks second in the world after China. The total fish production during 2014-15 (provisional) is at 10.07 million metric tonnes with a contribution of 6.58 million metric tonnes from inland sector and 3.49 million metric tonnes from marine sector. Fishery is one of the most promising sectors of agriculture and allied activities in India, with an overall growth rate of 6 per cent projected during the 12th Five year Plan. During 2013-14 fisheries export aggregated to 9,83,756 tonnes in volume and valued at ₹ 30,213.26 crores. As per the estimates of Central Statistical Organization (CSO), the Gross Value Added (GVA) from fisheries sector at current price during 2013-14 was ₹ 96,824 crores which is 5.58 per cent of the GVA from Agriculture and allied sectors and 0.92 of the total GVA.
India is blessed with vast aquatic resources with a rich diversity of fish fauna for sustainable utilization. Our country is recognized to harbour about 2,200 species of fish, which accounted for about 11 per cent of all fish species reported globally. About 24.7 per cent of our fish species live in warm freshwater; 3.3 per cent in cold water; 6.5 per cent in estuaries and the rest 65.5 per cent in the sea.
Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food producing sector in the world with an annual growth of around 7 per cent. India is the second largest producer of fish both in total, and from aquaculture. Increasing demand for fish and fishery products would mostly be sourced from aquaculture and  culture based capture fisheries in reservoirs as capture fisheries growth world over is stagnant.

Marine Fisheries
Harvesting of marine fisheries resources in the country warrants stronger emphasis on invoking technological innovations as well as management paradigms that reconcile livelihood issues with concerns on resource conservation. Global production of fish from marine capture fisheries in the last decade has stagnated gradually and many stocks have been either overexploited or have reached their maximum sustainable yields.
On-going Schemes
i. Development of Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture; ii. Development of Marine Fisheries, Infrastructure and Post Harvest Operations; iii. National Scheme of Welfare of Fishermen; iv. Strengthening of Database and Geographical Information System for the Fisheries Sector; v. Assistance to Fisheries Institutes; vi. National Fisheries Development Board; and vii. Issuance of Biometric Identity Cards to Coastal Fishermen.
Blue Revolution
In the budget allocation (2015-16) all the existing schemes of fisheries sector have been brought under the umbrella of ‘Blue Revolution’ for growth of fisheries and aquaculture in the country. Blue Revolution refers to an integrated and holistic approach towards the development and management of the fisheries and aquaculture sector in the country for increased production and productivity.
Livestock Health
Livestock sector plays an important role in national economy and socio-economic development of the country. Livestock sector has immense potential for growth. The biggest impediment to growth of this sector, however, is the large-scale prevalence of animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), Pestedes Petits Ruminants, brucellosis, avian influenza, etc., which adversely affect the animal productivity. The disease in livestock results in both morbidity and mortality with consequent production losses. Therefore, to effectively tackle the issue of livestock health, to reduce the losses and thereby enabling livestock owners to derive optimum gains from their animals, Government of India supplements the efforts of State Governments for prevention and control of animal diseases by providing assistance under various components of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Livestock Health and Disease Control (LH and DC)’, now renamed as ‘Veterinary Services and Animal Health’.
An online system of animal disease reporting in a time bound manner is being implemented for reporting of animal diseases for immediate action to control the disease. Under this each taluka/district and state headquarter is linked with a Central Disease Monitoring Unit in DADF at New Delhi.
Implementations of the Livestock Health and Disease Control scheme have resulted in major achievement for the country.
India was declared Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (CBPP) infection free country by the OIE in May, 2007. The freedom status is being maintained each year thereafter. India has been classified in May, 2010 by the World Animal Health Organization as a country having negligible risk for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The negligible status for BSE is being maintained each year thereafter. Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme (FMD-CP) is being implemented in 351 districts as of now. It has been decided that FMD-CP will be extended to whole of India during 12th Plan subject to availability of funds and vaccine. Peste des Petits Ruminants Control Programme (PPR-CP) which was in implementation in the southern states has also been expanded to whole of the country in February, 2014. With the implementation of the planned control programme in all the states, it is expected that the disease will be controlled and ultimately eradicated from the country.

Prevention of ingress of exotic diseases through import of various livestock and livestock products by strengthening quarantine set up in the country is also being ensured. In order to strengthen the veterinary infrastructure for delivering quality veterinary health services by the states/UTs. A programme was launched in August 2010 for establishment new veterinary hospitals and dispensaries and strengthening of the existing ones. The programme has been well accepted by the states and so far 3,419 veterinary hospitals and 4,169 veterinary dispensaries have been supported for construction/renovation under the programme.

To strengthen laboratory infrastructure, the department has established four pre-fabricated Bio- Safety Level-III (BSL-III) laboratories (one each at Kolkata, Jalandhar, Bareilly and Bengaluru). One Mobile BSL-III laboratory is available at NERDDL, Guwahati, Assam. About 23 State Disease Diagnostic Laboratories are being upgraded to BSL-II level, out of which, 18 are functional and remaining are at various stages of completion.