Fact Checking Government claims on initiatives related to Agriculture – Part 2
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 7, 2019
Here is a 2-part series
on the claims made by the current government on the initiatives related to
Agriculture.
The BJP government has published an infographic on the 48-months portal. The info-graph is apart of a larger sub section on the government’s commitment to farmers. Itmakes seven claims about the government’s focus on doubling farmer’s incomes.This article is a fact check of the claims made in the infographic. (ReadPart-1 here)
Is there promotion of food processing?
The fourth claim is thatthere is ‘Promotion of value addition
through food processing’.
A response in LokSabha from February 2019 states that ‘an innovative umbrella scheme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan
SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)’ has been launched in 2017 to promote modernisation and capacity
enhancement of food processing industries in the country in all aspects
including infrastructure and environment friendly packaging. The implementation
period of the scheme is 2016-2020 with a total allocation of Rs.6000 crores.
The PMKSY has seven component schemes viz; (i) Mega Food Parks, (ii) Integrated
Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, (iii) Infrastructure for
Agro-Processing Clusters, (iv) Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, (v)
Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities, (vi) Food
Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure and (vii) Human Resources and
Institutions. The PMKSY is implemented in all the States of India and is not
any region specific. The schemes under PMKSY are demand driven. The objectives
of PMKSY are to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain
management from farm gate to retail outlet, to give a major boost to the growth
of food processing sector in the country and help government’s initiative in
doubling of farmers’ income, create huge employment opportunities especially in
the rural areas, reduce wastage of agricultural produces, increase the
processing level and enhance the export of the processed foods’.
Under the scheme, grants-in-aid @ 35%of the eligible project cost is provided in General Areas and 50% of theeligible project cost in North Eastern States including Sikkim and Difficultareas including Himalayan States (Himachal Pradesh, J&K & Uttarakhand),notified ITDP areas and Islands subject to a maximum of Rs.5.00 crore. The foodprocessing units can be setup in Mega Food Parks (MFPs), Agro ProcessingClusters (APC) and Designated Food Parks (DFPs) notified by the Ministry fromtime to time. However, in States / UTs having no MFP, APC or DFP, the foodprocessing units may be setup anywhere in the State / UT. Further, theunits having majority stake of SC / ST promoter(s) and with an eligible projectcost of more than Rs. 5 (five) crore can be set up at any location in thecountry. To meet the credit demand of the food processingsector, the food and agro-based processing units and cold chain infrastructurehave been brought under the ambit of Priority Sector Lending (PSL) by theReserve Bank of India (RBI) with effect from 23.04.2015. A special foodprocessing fund of Rs.2000 crore has been created with the National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 2014-15 for providing affordablecredit to designated Food Parks and Agro Processing Units located in thedesignated Food Parks. Further, under various schemes of the PMKSY, subsidy isprovided to the investors in food processing sector to enhance their credit worthinessfor bank loans to set up various food processing industries. However, it has tobe noted here that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has beenimplementing Mega Food Park Scheme since 11th Five Year Plan to create moderninfrastructure for the food processing.
Lastly, it has been stated that ‘with a view to promoting food processing industries in the country, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has sanctioned 42 Mega Food Parks, 234 Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, 17 Agro Processing Clusters, 32 Backward and Forward Linkages and 83 food processing units under various schemes of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)’. The following table shows the number of food processing industries registered in the country over the years as per data shared in the parliament.
Claim: Promotion of value addition through food processing.
Fact: The government has taken steps to promote the food processing industry in the country. However, some of these steps have been initiated long before the BJP government. The impact of the policies has not officially been evaluated. However, the claim is TRUE.
Was a national farmers market created?
The fifth claim is thatthere is a ‘creation of a national farm
market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations’.
As per a response provided by the government in the Lok Sabha in March 2018, ‘National Agriculture Market (eNAM) is a
pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC Mandis to
create a unified national market for agricultural commodities’.  The official eNAM website states that ‘the
NAM Portal provides a single window service for all APMC related information
and services. This includes commodity arrivals & prices, buy & sell
trade offers, provision to respond to trade offers, among other services. While
material flow (agriculture produce) continues to happen through mandis, an
online market reduces transaction costs and information asymmetry’. The website of e-NAM lists 585mandis.
Claim: Creation of a national farm market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations.
Fact: National Agriculture Market (eNAM) has been launched in 2016. It has 585 mandis listed as on date. Hence, the claim is TRUE. However, if this initiative has removed distortions and enabled large scale market access is not yet verified.
Has a new crop insurance scheme been introduced?
The sixth claim is that ‘introduction of a new crop insurance scheme
to mitigate risks at an affordable cost’.
A response is the Lok Sabha from2016 states that ‘the existing crop
insurance scheme namely, National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) with its
three component schemes viz. Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme
(MNAIS), Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) & Coconut Palm
Insurance Scheme (CPIS) and National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) have
been comprehensively reviewed and Government of India has recently approved the
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) which would replace the existing
schemes of National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) & Modified
National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) from ensuing Kharif 2016.
Government has also circulated the Operational Guidelines of the new scheme on
the basis of which the scheme would be actually implemented by all the
stakeholders including States/UTs, insurance companies, financial institutions etc.’.
Claim: Introduction of a new crop insurance scheme to mitigate risks at an affordable cost.
Fact: The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is not a new scheme per se. The existing schemes have been all combined to form PMFBY after their comprehensive review. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
Is there a promotion of ancillary activities?
The last claim is thatthere is a ‘promotion of ancillary
activities like poultry, beekeeping and fisheries’.
As per the informationshared in the Lok Sabha, the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying andFisheries (DAHDF) implements a number of schemes.  Further, for sustainable and continuous growth of livestock sector by emulating the success achieved in dairy andpoultry sectors, across species and regions, the National Livestock Mission waslaunched in 2014-15 with an approved outlay of 2,800 crore during the 12 five year plan. The government is encouraging rural back yard poultrydevelopment and transforming backyard poultry to commercial economic model.
Foreseeing high potential, the BlueRevolution with its multi-dimensional activities, focuses mainly on increasingfisheries production and productivity from aquaculture and fisheries resources,both inland and marine. The department’s annual report also states that thescheme was restructured by merging all the ongoing schemes under an umbrella ofblue revolution.
The website of the National Bee Board states that ‘the Ministry of
Agriculture  launched a Central Sector
Scheme titled ‘Development of Beekeeping for Improving Crop Productivity’
during the VIII plan (1994-95). The scheme had various components covering
R&D, production & distribution of honey bee colonies, organizing
trainings and awareness programmes and support for setting up honey processing
plant, etc. A Beekeeping Development Board also functioned to coordinate the
Beekeeping activities. The Scheme was approved for continuation during the IX
Plan. However, the scheme got subsumed under the Macro Management Scheme, with
effect from October, 2000. The Department facilitated efforts by providing seed
money through Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) for enabling the
private sector to join hands in forming the National Bee Board as a Registered
Society in July, 2000 & promoted by the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business
Consortium (SFAC). In May 2005, Beekeeping has been included as a supplemental
activity under National Horticulture Mission (NHM) for promoting cross
pollination of Horticultural Crops. In view of the tremendous scope for
increasing productivity due to cross pollination and increase in income through
Apiculture, it was proposed to revive Beekeeping activity in the country,
exponentially by pooling the resources of the Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation with other organization, including private sector. Accordingly, the
National Bee Board (NBB) was reconstituted in June, 2006. The main objective of
the National Bee Board (NBB) is overall development of Beekeeping by promoting
Scientific Beekeeping in India to increase the productivity of crops through
pollination and increase the Honey production for increasing the income of the
Beekeepers/ Farmers’.
Claim: Promotion of ancillary activities like poultry, beekeeping and fisheries.
Fact: It can be seen that successive governments have made efforts to promote ancillary activities such as poultry, beekeeping and fisheries. The schemes that already existed have been brought together under one umbrella by the BJP government. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.
This story is part of a larger series on the 4-years of the Modi government. This series has been made possible with the flash grant of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN). Read the rest of the stories in this series here