Area
India
Commodity Group
Rice
Commodity
All
Date
29/02/2016
Policy Category
Production
Policy Instrument
Budgetary allocations, production support
Description
As part of its 2016 budgetary allocations, set a target to double rural incomes by 2022. Officials will additionally seek to bring 10.9 million hectares of farmland under irrigation through the Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana scheme and by fast-tracking 89 irrigation projects. This would be further to creating a Long Term Irrigation Fund and enhancing groundwater management. Efforts to address deteriorating soil health by extending soil health cards to farmers will be continued, as will steps to promote organic farming, including through the "Parmparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana scheme launched last year. Agricultural credit and storage capacity is also to be boosted, while a pilot programme extending direct payments to farmers to help them purchase fertilisers would be implemented. Steps to enhance farmer access to markets through the Unified Agricultural Marketing Scheme will also be taken, together with improvements to the procurement system. The latter would include encouraging greater de-centralisation and online procurement by the Food Corporation of India. Meanwhile, INR 55 billion (USD 830 million) will go to implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana crop insurance scheme approved in January.
