Government last year had approved the Umbrella Scheme, ‘Green Revolution – Krishonnati Yojana’ in agriculture sector beyond the 12th Five Year Plan for a period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with the Central Share of Rs. 33,269.976 crore.
The Umbrella scheme basically comprises of 11 Schemes or Missions. The aim of these schemes is to develop the agriculture & allied sector in a holistic and scientific way increasing farmers’ income by improving production, yield and better returns on produce. The Schemes will be continued with an outlay of Rs.33, 269.976 crore for 3 financial years - 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20.
Now, let’s know about the schemes that are part of the Umbrella Scheme:
1.National Food Security Mission (NFSM). The NFSM also includes National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) and has a total central share of Rs.6893.38 crore. It aims to raise production of wheat, rice, pulses, commercial crops and coarse cereals, through area expansion and output enhancement in an appropriate way in the identified districts of India, restoring soil fertility as well as productivity at
2. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) – Center has allocated Rs. 7533.04 crore for MIDH. It aims at promoting holistic development of the horticulture sector, improve horticulture production, enhance nutritional security and provide income support to farm Households.
3. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) – It has been given a total central share of Rs.3980.82 crore. The NMSA intends to promote sustainable agriculture practices best suitable to particular agro-ecology by focusing on integrated farming, apt soil health management & synergizing resource conservation technology.
4. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE). It has been granted Rs.2961.26 crore by the government. The scheme aims to reinforce the ongoing extension mechanism of the state governments and local bodies etc. by attaining food and nutritional security and socio-economic empowerment of cultivators, to institutionalize programme planning & implementation mechanism, to build effective linkages & synergy amongst various stake-holders, to promote invasive and innovative use of electronic or print media, inter-personal communication etc.
5. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) - with a total Rs.3250 crore share the SMAM aims to boost the reach of farm mechanization to small & marginal farmers and to areas where availability of farm power is little, to support ‘Custom Hiring Centres’ to balance the adverse economies of scale arising because of small landholding & high cost of individual ownership, to create awareness among stakeholders via demonstration & capacity building activities, to create hubs for hi-tech & high value farm equipment and to ensure performance testing & certification at selected testing centers in India.
6. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP) -The SMSP with a total central share of Rs.920.6 crore basically aims to enhance production of certified or quality seed, increase SRR, improve quality of farm saved seeds, strengthen seed multiplication chain, endorse new technologies & methodologies in seed production, processing & testing, strengthen & modernize infrastructure for seed production, storage, certification and quality etc.
7. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ) – Government has allocated Rs.1022.67 crore for it. It aims to reduce loss to quality and yield of agricultural crops from the destruction of insect pests, weeds, diseases, nematodes, rodents and to protect agricultural bio-security from the incursions & spread of alien species, to promote good agricultural practices and to facilitate exports of Indian agricultural commodities to international markets.
8. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES) - It has a total share of Rs. 730.58 crore and aims to take on agriculture census, study of cost of cultivation of principal crops, undertake research studies on agro-economic problems, to fund conferences or workshops & seminars involving important economists, agricultural scientists, experts and to produce papers to carry out short term studies and to improve agricultural statistics method.
9. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC) – Center has allotted Rs. 1902.636 crore for this. ISAC aims at providing financial support to improve the economic conditions of cooperatives, eliminate regional imbalances and accelerate - cooperative development in agricultural marketing, processing, storage; assist the cotton growers get remunerative price through value addition besides ensuring quality yarn supply at reasonable price to decentralized weavers.
10. National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A) - The scheme has been given Rs. 211.06 crore and it aims to bring grower centricity and service orientation to the programmes; improve the reach & impact of extension services; advance access of farmers to information &services during crop-cycle and enhance effectiveness & efficiency of programs through making available timely & important information to cultivators for increasing their agriculture productivity.
11. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) – The ISAM with a total central share of 3863.93 crore intends to develop agricultural marketing infrastructure; promote innovative & latest technologies & competitive alternatives in agriculture marketing infrastructure; offer infrastructure facilities for grading, standardization & quality certification of agricultural produce; set up a nationwide marketing information network; integrate markets via common online market platform to facilitate pan-India trade in agricultural commodities and so on.
All these schemes or plans have been under implementation for varying period during the past few years. They basically focus on strengthening the infrastructure of production, reduce production cost & marketing of agriculture and allied produce.
All of them were evaluated and approved independently as separate scheme or plans. It was in the year 2017-18 that the government decided to merge all these schemes under one umbrella scheme known as 'Green Revolution - Krishonnati Yojana'.
