Intervention Made in Drought Affected Areas

Intervention Made in Drought Affected Areas

Intervention made in drought affected areas:

(i) Implementation of Diesel Subsidy Scheme for protective irrigation of crops;

(ii) Enhancement of ceiling on seed subsidy to partially recompense the farmer for the additional expenditure incurred in resoling and/or purchasing appropriate varieties of seeds;

(iii) Implementation of interventions on perennial horticulture crops under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH);

(iv) Implementation of Additional Fodder Development Programme (AFDP) as a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), in collaboration with State Agricultural Universities has prepared contingency plans for 600 districts for implementing location specific interventions to sustain agriculture production in the eventuality of any extreme climatic events.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) has been launched with the objective of extending the coverage of irrigation in a focused manner. Under PMKSY focus has been given for: Creation of new water sources; Repair, restoration and renovation of defunct water sources; Construction of water harvesting structures, secondary & micro storage, ground water development and Enhancing potentials of traditional water bodies at village level.

Central Government has relaxed the norms under MGNREGA to provide additional employment of 50 days over and above the 100 days per household in the areas affected by natural calamities including drought for the current year.

Further, in order to protect farmers against crop failure due to natural calamities, pests & diseases, weather conditions, Government of India had introduced the National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) from Rabi 2013-14 season with component schemes of Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS), Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) and Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS). In addition, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) which was to be withdrawn after implementation of NCIP from Rabi 2013-14, has been extended further. These schemes have been recently reviewed and a new scheme namely, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) has been approved for implementation from Kharif 2016 season.

Promotion of Micro Irrigation

The Micro Irrigation technologies (both Drip and Sprinkler) are quite popular amongst the farmers and adoption rate is also high. The State-wise details of area covered under micro irrigation are given below in table 1.

            The National Mission on Micro Irrigation programme in the country, State-wise including West Bengal was subsumed under National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) and implemented as “On farm Water Management” (OFWM) during 2014-15. The same is now being implemented as “Per Drop More Crop” component under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchyee Yojana (PMKSY) from 2015-16 onwards.

            Various steps taken by Government for promotion of micro irrigation include (i) Training and awareness programmes, (ii) Awareness through print media and radio & TV talks, (iii) Organization of workshops, seminars and interactive meetings, (iv) Publicity creation through Exhibitions, Fairs and Kisan Melas, (v) Publication of literature and (vi) Short duration films.