Initiatives of Department of Agriculture to promote farming and allied sectors during lockdown

Initiatives of Department of Agriculture to promote farming and allied sectors during lockdown

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Agriculture; Welfare Schemes

In News:

• Exemptions have been given by Government of India for agricultural operations keeping in view the harvesting and sowing season. 

Key takeaways:

• The All India Agri Transport Call Centre has been launched. It is set up for coordination between States for inter-state movement of perishable commodities.  
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Scheme  about 8 crores farmers have been benefitted. 
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY) large amount of pulses have been dispatched for delivery to the States/UTs. 
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), around Rs.2000 crores of insurance claims have been disbursed to the beneficiary farmers. 
• Decision has been taken for providing 2% Interest Subvention (IS) to Banks and 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI) to farmers for the extended period of the lockdown. 

Important value additions:

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi

• It is an initiative by the government of India in which all farmers will get up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support. 

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PM-GKY) 

• During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in India, Finance Minister announced a ₹1.70 Lakh Crore ($24 billion) relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana(PMFBY)

• It is an insurance service for farmers for their yields.
• It was formulated in line with One Nation–One Scheme theme by replacing earlier two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) 
• It aims to reduce the premium burden on farmers and ensure early settlement of crop assurance claims for the full insured sum.

Interest Subvention

• The interest subvention scheme for farmers aims at providing short term credit to farmers at subsidised interest rate.