1 Operation Green

Objectives

1. India is the second largest producer of vegetables in the world with about 180 MMT.
2. Operation Greens wants to replicate the success story of the operation flood in fruit and vegetables, starting with tomatoes, onions and potatoes.
3. The main objective of this project is to reduce price volatility in these commodities, thereby helping farmers boost incomes on a sustainable basis.
4. It also aims to provide these vegetables to consumers at affordable pricesLinks major consumption centres to major production centres with a minimal number of intermediaries.
5. The APMC Act will have to be changed to allow direct buying from FPOs, and giving incentives to these organisations, private companies and NGOs to build back end infrastructure as was done in the case of milk under operation flood.
6. The announcement of tax concessions to FPOs (farmer producer organisations) for five years. It will encourage building such critical infrastructure.
7. Second is the investment in logistics, starting with modern warehouses, that can minimize wastage.
8. Third is linking the processing industry with organized retailing.
9. Dehydrated onions, tomato puree and potato chips should become cheap, so that an average household can use them

2.Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

Objectives –

1. The primary objectives of PMKSY are to attract investments in irrigation system at field level, develop and expand cultivable land in the country, enhance ranch water use in order to minimize wastage of water, enhance crop per drop by implementing water-saving technologies and precision irrigation.1. Formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation ‘Har Khet ko pani’ and
2. Improving water use efficiency ‘More crop per drop’ in a focused manner with end to end solution on source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities.

PMKSY has been formulated amalgamating ongoing schemes viz.

1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources,

2. River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR),

3. Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR)

4. The On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC)

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of water resources, ministry of rural development , ministry of agriculture

3.Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

Objectives –

1. To incentivize the states that increase their investment in Agriculture and allied sectors

2. To provide flexibility and autonomy to the States in planning and executing programmes for agriculture

3. To ensure the preparation of Agriculture Plans for the districts and states

4. To achieve the goal of reducing the yield gaps in important crops

5. To maximize returns to the farmers

6. To address the agriculture and allied sectors in an integrated manner

Salient Features –

1. It is a State Plan scheme

2. The eligibility of a state for the RKVY is contingent upon the state maintaining or increasing the State Plan expenditure for Agricultural and Allied sectors

3. The scheme encourages convergence with other programmes such as NREGS.

4. It will integrate agriculture and allied sectors comprehensively

4.National Food Security Mission (NFSM)The NFSM has three components:

(i) National Food Security Mission – Rice (NFSM-Rice);

(ii) National Food Security Mission – Wheat (NFSM-Wheat); and

(iii) National Food Security Mission – Pulses (NFSM Pulses)

Objectives –

1. The Mission aims to increase production through area expansion and productivity; create employment opportunities; and enhance the farm-level economy (i.e. farm profits) to restore confidence of farmers.

2. The approach is to bridge the yield gap in respect of these three crops through dissemination of improved technologies and farm management practices while focusing on districts which have high potential but relatively low level of productivity at present.

5.National Horticulture Mission (NHM)

Objectives –

1. To provide holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area based regionally differentiated strategies

2. To enhance horticulture production, improve nutritional security and income support to farm households

3. To establish convergence and synergy among multiple on-going and planned programmes for horticulture development

4. To promote, develop and disseminate technologies, through a seamless blend of traditional wisdom and modern scientific knowledge

5. To create opportunities for employment generation for skilled and unskilled persons, especially unemployed youth.

6.To develop horticulture to the maximum potential available in the state and to augment production of all horticultural products (fruits, vegetables, flowers, coco,cashew nut,plantation crops, spices, medicinal aromatic plants) in the state

6.Soil Health Card Scheme

Objectives –

Under the scheme, the government plans to issue soil cards to farmers which will carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers required for the individual farms to help farmers to improve productivity through judicious use of inputs

1. All soil samples are to be tested in various soil testing labs across the country.

2. Thereafter the experts will analyse the strength and weaknesses (micro-nutrients deficiency) of the soil and suggest measures to deal with it.

3. The result and suggestion will be displayed in the cards. The government plans to issue the cards to 14 crore farmers.

7.Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Objectives –

To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of natural calamities, pests & diseases.

To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.

One crop one rate

A uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all

Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops.

In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%.

There is no upper limit on Government subsidy so farmers will get claim against full sum insured without any reduction.

The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government

Yield Losses: due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado. Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.

Post harvest losses are also covered.

The use of technology: Smart phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.

8.National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)

1. To make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific Integrated/Composite Farming Systems;

2. To conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures;

3. To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices based on soil fertility maps, soil test based application of macro & micro nutrients, judicious use of fertilizers etc.;

4. To optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving ‘more crop per drop’;

5. To develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on-going Missions e.g. National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, National Food Security Mission, National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) etc., in the domain of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures;

6. To pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies refined through NICRA and by leveraging resources from other schemes/Missions like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), RKVY etc.;

7. To establish an effective inter and intra Departmental/Ministerial co-ordination for accomplishing key deliverables of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of NAPCC.1. NMSA derives its mandate from Sustainable Agriculture Mission which is one of the eight Missions outlined under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

9.Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

Objectives –

Boost Organic Farming

1. PKVY scheme is the first comprehensive plan based on a 20 hectare cluster whose implementation is done by the state governments.

2. In a cluster maximum financial assistance of up to 1 hectare is provided to the farmers.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare

10.National Agriculture Market

Objectives –

1. e-National Agriculture Market (NAM) is a pan-India e-trading platform. It is designed to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities
2. Farmers can showcase their produce online from their nearest market and traders can quote price from anywhere
3. It will result in increased numbers of traders and greater competition. It will also ensure open price discovery and better returns to farmers.
4. National Agriculture Market is going to implemented by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation through Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC).
5. NAM is not replacing the mandis. NAM is an online platform with a physical market or mandi at the backend enabling buyers situated even outside the state to participate in trading at the local level.
6. It seeks to leverage the physical infrastructure of mandis through an online trading portal, enabling buyers situated even outside the state to participate in trading at the local level.
7. This e-platform aims to provide more options to farmers to sell their produce and is part of implementation of the roadmap for doubling income of the farmers by 2022

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare

11.Krishi Vigyan Kendras

Objectives –

The aim of the portal is to transfer the technologies developed by the agricultural scientists to the farmers in a fast and effective manner using web and mobile technology as well as to monitor the activities of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)

1. The objectives of the portal is to create a platform to monitor the various activities as well as resource utilization by various KVKs;

2. To create a database of the various programmes organized by the KVKs along with their detailed information and learning resources;

3. To help the farmers in resolving their queries using web and mobile technologies;

4. To provide information about various facilities and activities performed by the KVKs and to provide linkage to other important information such as weather and market information.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare

12. SENSAGRI:

SENsor based Smart AGRIculture

Objectives –

The major objective is to develop indigenous prototype for drone based crop and soil health monitoring system using hyperspectral remote sensing (HRS) sensors

1. Drone technology based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has ability for smooth scouting over farm fields, gathering precise information and transmitting the data on real time basis.

2. This capability could be used for the benefit of farming sector at regional/local scale for assessing land and crop health; extent, type and severity of damage besides issuing forewarning, post-event management and settlement of compensation under crop insurance schemes.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare

14.Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Unnat Krishi Shiksha Scheme

Objectives –

It was launched to promote agricultural education.-Under the scheme 100 centres are opened with a fund of Rs.5.35 crore.

15. Mera Gaon-Mera Gaurav

1. To enhance the direct interface of scientists with the farmers, an innovative initiative has been launched as “Mera Gaon- Mera Gaurav”which will hasten the lab to land approach.
2. The objective of this initiative is to provide farmers with required information, knowledge and advisories on regular basis.
3. Under this scheme, groups of scientists will select villages and will remain in touch with that village and provide information to farmers on technical and other related aspects in a time frame through personal visits or through telecommunication.
4. In this way, 20,000 scientists of National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES) can work directly in villages.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture

16. Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA)

Objectives –

1. To attract youth to enter into agricultural activities.-The new scheme ARYA has recently been launched by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICRA).
2. -This program is planned to be implemented through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK-Farm science centres) in 25 states of our country.
3. -Each KVK would train about 200 to 300 youth in taking up agriculture’s allied and supplementary activities such as poultry farming, dairying, fisheries, goat rearing, mushroom production and other similar activities which keep the rural youth attached to agriculture, either directly or indirectly.
4. -Finally, the trained young entrepreneurs would be assisted in preparing project reports for seeking bank loans.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture

17.Farmer First

Objectives –

1. The Farmer FIRST aims at enriching Farmers –Scientist interface, technology assemblage, application and feedback, partnership and institutional building and content mobilization.It will provide a platform to farmers and scientists for creating linkages, capacity building, technology adaptation and application, on-site input management, feedback and institution building.
2. The scientists from 100 ICAR Institutes/ Universities are proposed to work with one lakh farmers directly.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Agriculture

18. Pandit Deendayal Unnat Krishi Shiksha Yojana

Objectives –

1. Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry has launched a new scheme named as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Unnat Krihsi shiksha Yojna to fish out the talent of Indian youths and all over development of rural India has launched.
2. Scheme is being implemented by Agriculture Education Division related to Indian Council of Agricultural Research Council (ICAR).
3. Under this course of action the trainers will be selected on village level so as to establish training centre, to impart knowledge about natural/organic/sustainable farming/rural economy. Various training programmes will be conducted in different regions in these centers.
4. Almost 100 training centers will be set up throughout the country for the participation of teachers in various activities for the Advanced India Campaign conducted by Agriculture Research Council/Human Resource Development Ministry under this scheme alongwith.

19.SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters)

Objectives –

1. To supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease agri-waste. PMKSY is an umbrella scheme which incorporates all ongoing schemes of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). It includes MoFPI’s schemes such as Mega Food Parks, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, etc.
2. It also includes new schemes like Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.

20.e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi (e-RaKAM) portal

Objectives –

1. To provide a platform for farmers to sell agricultural produce Government launched a portal e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi (e-RaKAM) which will provide a platform to sell agricultural produce.
2. e-RaKAM is a first of its kind initiative that leverages technology to connect farmers of the smallest villages to the biggest markets of the world through internet.
3. e-RaKAM is a digital initiative bringing together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease the selling and buying process of agricultural products.
4. Under this initiative, e-RaKAM centres are being developed in a phased manner throughout the country to facilitate farmers for online sale of their produce.
5. The farmers will be paid through e-Payment directly into their bank accounts.

21.Price Stabilization Fund

Objectives –

1. To help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities like onion, potatoes and pulsesThe scheme provides for maintaining a strategic buffer of aforementioned commodities for subsequent calibrated release to moderate price volatility and discourage hoarding and unscrupulous speculation.
2. For building such stock, the scheme promotes direct purchase from farmers/farmers’ association at farm gate/Mandi.
3. The PSF is utilized for granting interest free advance of working capital to Central Agencies, State/UT Governments/Agencies to undertake market intervention operations.
4. Apart from domestic procurement from farmers/wholesale mandis, import may also be undertaken with support from the Fund.

Nodal Ministry

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA)

22.Interest subvention scheme

Objectives –

1. The objective of the scheme is to make available agricultural credit for Short Term crop loans at an affordable rate. The scheme is expected to boost agricultural productivity and production in the country.
2. Under this scheme, farmers will be given a short term crop loan up to Rs. 3 lakh payable within one year at an interest rate of 4% per annum.
3. The scheme will be implemented by NABARD and RBI.
4. The interest subvention will be provided to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and to NABARD for refinancing to RRBs and Cooperative Banks.
5. Interest subvention of 5% per annum will be provided to those farmers who pay the short term crop loan in time. Farmers will have to effectively pay only 4% as interest. For farmers who do not pay crop loan in time the interest subvention of only 2% will be applicable as against 5% available above.
6. This institutional credit is expected to demotivate farmers from taking loans from non-institutional sources of credit at high rates of interest.

23.Bio-tech Kisaan

Objectives –

1. The Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN) aims to understand the problems of water, soil, seed and market faced by the farmers and provide simple solutions to them. The scheme will be implemented in 15 agro-climatic zones of India in phased manner with the objective:-
2. Linking available science and technology to the farm by first understanding the problem of the local farmer and provide solutions to those problems.
3. The working together, in close conjunction, of scientists and farmers is the only way to improve the working conditions of small and marginal farmers.
4. This programme aims to work with small and marginal farmers especially the woman farmer for better agriculture productivity through scientific intervention and evolving best farming practices in the Indian context.

Nodal Ministry

Ministry of Science & technology

Economics is one of the primary Pillars of UPSC preparation. It has substantial weightage in Prelims and also in  GS 3rd paper of mains. To ensure that students build  a strong foundation and  a strong hold over the subject, we at Civilsdaily, have the best and most trusted faculty, Himanshu Arora Sir.

Credentials of Himanshu Sir-

• MPhil Economics (JNU)
• Works at Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council
• Writes regularly in various famous Indian and international weeklies like Millenium post and Huffington Post.
• Worked as Assistant Professor in Delhi University.

Here is the article by Himanshu Sir  that was published today in  Financial Express;

Strengthening India’s economic fundamental may be the best route to enhance its influence as a strong economy

In the wake of the horrific terrorist attack on Indian forces in Pulwama, France, United Kingdom and the US have moved a proposal to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar under 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanction Committee. However, in a geopolitical move to safeguard its interests in Pakistan, China has vetoed India’s bid to declare Azhar a global terrorist, for the fourth time. Back in 2009 as well, soon after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India had moved a similar proposal. In 2016, after the Pathankot attack, India had again moved the proposal at UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee along with P3 (USA, UK, France) to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. In 2017, P3 nations moved a similar proposal yet again. On all such occasions, China blocked the proposal from being passed by the Security Council. The proposal, if passed, would have designated Azhar a global terrorist with his assets frozen, travels banned and imposed an arms embargo.

Why has China adopted such a stand? China’s relationship with Pakistan can be understood within the context of its relationship with India. As China-India relations started to move southwards, its relations with Pakistan strengthened. China and Pakistan have long valued their alliance as a strategic hedge against India. Beijing’s move to save terrorist organisations operating from Pakistan is part of its larger geopolitical plan. It has invested heavily in Pakistan and any move by India to declare it as a hub of terrorist activities will have major economic and strategic consequences.

Historically, China has relied on its military to influence its relations with Pakistan. China has played a major role in building Pakistan’s defence capabilities, supplying missiles, aircrafts and radar equipment. However, as China’s economic prowess has grown, so has its temptation to use economic power to advance its geopolitical goals. China has been playing the geo-economics game at a maestro level by relying on economic instruments to expand its influence. Chinese leadership has reached a consensus that instead of supplying fighter jets to Pakistan, it makes more sense to initiate a currency swap agreement between central banks—a move less likely to provoke a security response from US or India.
China’s friendship with Pakistan is also influenced by the presence of a dominant third party— the US—making it a 3-player strategic triangle. China’s strategic choices in Pakistan draw significantly from the fact that the US has limited its military relationship with Pakistan since 2011. For China, having strong ties with Pakistan is a considerable source of leverage over US. As long as Pakistan acts contrary to the interests of US by encouraging militant activity, providing safe havens for terrorists, and preventing peace efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan remains an important source of leverage for China.

China’s interest in Pakistan is also heightened by improving Indo-US ties. Since 2006, defence contracts worth more than $18 billion have been signed between the two. The US has backed India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and the two nations have signed an Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy in 2008, thereby ending decades of India’s nuclear apartheid.

Chinese anxiousness at consistently improving Indo-US ties is reflected in its investments in Pakistan. For instance, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with a total investment of $46 billion, is China’s most ambitious effort to keep Pakistan under its influence. Once completed, almost one-fourth of China’s foreign trade will pass through the CPEC. China has promised to build transport networks, highways, and Gwadar as a major international oil port, for enhancing trade. Gwadar and CPEC are the two most prominent examples of China’s geo-economics in Pakistan. India views these initiatives with suspicion and has repeatedly reiterated that China wants to expand its influence in South Asia. China will use Gwadar as a base for its navy to oversee and expand its influence in the Indian Ocean.

China remains Pakistan’s rescuer by responding to the infrequent crisis moments. The Chinese government had offered $500 million in assistance to Pakistan during its 1996 balance of payments crisis. In 2008, Pakistan once again found itself at the verge of an economic crisis. With its traditional allies US and Saudi Arabia in the grip of the global financial crisis and refusing to grant concessions, the then president approached Beijing for help and the latter obliged by granting $500 million. Another important variant of China’s geo-economics strategy was directly aimed at India when, in 2009, China blocked £2 billion of multilateral assistance to India at the Asian Development Bank amid tensions surrounding a border dispute in Arunachal Pradesh.
Today, China holds much more influence in Pakistan than any other country ever has in history. Pakistan and China share a symbiotic relationship. Pakistan is dependent on China for its economic, political, military and diplomatic support and China is dependent on Pakistan for its strategic and geopolitical objectives. If China does not want to lose a strategic ally and funds it has invested in CPEC and Gwadar, it must provide economic and diplomatic assistance to Pakistan like the one at the United Nations (UN).

Finally, to counter China and Pakistan, India on its part must become an equally active player in this geo-economic game. Strengthening its economic fundamentals may potentially be the best route to enhance influence. A strong economy is a major driver of foreign policy. India must strengthen its economic ties with neighbouring countries. The revival of SAARC can be a good starting point. India must fill the geopolitical vacuum in South-East Asia due to China’s masculine foreign policy. Most South-East Asian nations are aghast by China’s moves in the South China Sea and India can strengthen its ties with such nations by promoting trade and investments through regional trading agreements. This would act as a counter to China’s influence. We must prioritise our economic relations with the US and its allies amid the growing concern of a China-US trade war. The only feasible option we have in order to sideline China diplomatically at the UN is forming stronger economic ties with the US, UK, Russia and France.

Here is the link of the original Article

https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/strengthening-indias-economic-fundamental-may-be-the-best-route-to-enhance-its-influence-as-a-strong-economy/1555087/

Laws related to environment conservation in India