Agriculture Updates: Government Focus on Crop Diversification and Allied Activities.

To divert the area of water guzzling paddy to alternate crops like pulses, oilseeds, maize, cotton and agro forestry system, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) is implementing Crop Diversification Programme in Original Green Revolution States of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh as a sub scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) since 2013-14.

To encourage tobacco growing farmers to shift to alternate crops/cropping system w.e.f. 2015-16, the programme has been extended to tobacco growing states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Under Crop Diversification Programme, assistance is being provided for four major components / interventions viz.
(i) Alternate crop demonstrations
(ii) Farm mechanization and value addition
(iii) Site specific activities and
(iv) Contingency for awareness, training, implementation, monitoring, etc.

The schemes of DAC&FW like National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology (NMAET), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA),National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and Soil Health Card Scheme, through these schemes Crop production technology of various agricultural and horticultural crops grown in different regions and ecologies are promoted.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing a number of schemes for boosting income of farmers, promotion and development of food processing sector in the country. The scheme are like Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Scheme for Modern Abattoirs, Mega Food Parks, Scheme for Quality Assurance and Scheme for Human Resources and Institutions, Scheme for Creation/Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/