ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT – PART 3

NABARD,PM-KISAN  and KISAN Credit Card Scheme in the PDF doc have already been covered in previous articles – AtmaNirbhar Part 1 and Part 2.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched in 2016 and is being administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
• Scope: All food & oilseed crops and annual commercial/horticultural crops for which past yield data is available.
• Premium: The prescribed premium is 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all rabi crops. In the case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium is 5%.
• The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /Kisan Credit Card (KCC) account for notified crops and voluntary for others.
• The scheme is implemented by empanelled general insurance companies. The selection of the Implementing Agency (IA) is done by the concerned State Government through bidding.
• January,2020 News– Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to integrate its land records with the web portal of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

Shrimp Broodstock

• Validity of Sanitary Import Permits (SIPs) for import of Shrimp Broodstock extended by 3 months.
• Broodstock, or broodfish, are a group of mature individuals used in aquaculture for breeding purposes. Broodstock can be a population of animals maintained in captivity as a source of replacement for, or enhancement of, seed and fry numbers.These are generally kept in ponds or tanks in which environmental conditions such as photoperiod, temperature and pH are controlled.
• Shrimp production can substantially contribute to marine product export from the country. 
• About 80 per cent of the shrimp farmers are marginal and small scale farmers .

Agri Infrastructure Fund

The Centre will immediately create a Rs 1 lakh crore Agri-Infrastructure Fund for farm- gate infrastructure for small and medium farmers, most of whom are marginalised.

Financing facility of Rs 1,00,000 crore will be provided for funding Agriculture Infrastructure Projects at farm-gate and aggregation points which will include primary agricultural co-operative societies, farmer producer organizations, agricultural entrepreneurs and start-ups. The fund will be created immediately.

Operation GREENS

Operation Greens will be extended from Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes (TOP) to ALL fruits and vegetables (TOTAL).

What is Operation Green?

• It is a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are given the right price for their produce.
• It aims to promote Farmer Producers Organizations (FPO), Agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management of agri-produce.
• It focuses on organized marketing of Tomatoes, Onions and Potatoes (TOP vegetables) by connecting farmers with consumers.
• State Agriculture and other Marketing Federations, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO), cooperatives, companies, Self-help groups, food processors etc. can avail the financial assistance under it.
• To help in the structural and infrastructure part of the scheme, agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will be connected to the e-NAM platform.
• The government will also help in development of 22,000 agricultural markets.

Formalisation of Micro Food Enterprises (MFE)

• In line with the vision to promote “Vocal for Local” with global outreach, the Central Government’s scheme for formalisation of micro food enterprises will help them become more competitive and enable economies of scale across the production value chain.
• The scheme aims to help nearly two lakh unorganised micro-food enterprises achieve technical upgradation in line with FSSAI’s standards as well give them marketing and branding support.
• Outlay– Rs 10,000 Crores.
• The micro FP enterprises constitute almost 98 per cent of the sector and 66 per cent amongst them are based in rural areas.
• The government will adopt a cluster-based approach across states for products such as mangoes, kesar, foxnuts, tapioca, chills, ragi, among other products.

Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

Cabinet approves ‘Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana – A scheme to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries section in India.

The Scheme will be implemented during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.

The PMMSY will be implemented as an umbrella scheme with two separate Components namely (a) Central Sector Scheme (CS) and (b) Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS). 

Benefits:

i. Address the critical gaps in the fisheries sector and realize its potential.

ii. Augmenting fish production and productivity at a sustained average annual growth rate of about 9% to achieve a target of 22 million metric tons by 2024-25 through sustainable and responsible fishing practices.

iii. Improving availability of certified quality fish seed and feed, traceability in fish and including effective aquatic health management.

iv. Creation of critical infrastructure including modernisation and strengthening of value chain.

v. Creation of direct gainful employment opportunities to about 15 lakh fishers, fish farmers, fish workers, fish vendors and other rural/urban populations in fishing and allied activities and about thrice this number as indirect employment opportunities including enhancement of their incomes.

vi. Boost to investments in fisheries sector and increase of competitiveness of fish and fisheries products.

vii. Doubling of fishers, fish farmers and fish workers incomes by 2024

viii. Social, physical and economic security for fishers and fish workers.

Seaweed Farming

Seaweed farming or kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. In its simplest form, it consists of the management of naturally found batches. In its most advanced form, it consists of fully controlling the life cycle of the algae.

Uses-

1. Edible seaweed, or sea vegetables, are seaweeds that can be eaten and used in the preparation of food. They typically contain high amounts of fiber. They may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown algae.
2. Many seaweeds are used to produced derivative chemicals that can be used for various industrial, pharmaceutical or food products. Two major derivitative products are Carrageenan and Agar. 
3. Algae fuel, algal biofuel, or algal oil is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Also, algae fuels are an alternative to commonly known biofuel sources, such as corn and sugarcane.

National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP)

The following are the aims of NADCP programme:

• • 100 % vaccination of cattle.
  • To vaccinate over 600 million cattle in the country in an effort to mitigate the two diseases namely, the Foot & Mouth Disease, & brucellosis.
  • The programme also aims at vaccinating 36 million female bovine calves annually in its fight against the brucellosis disease.
  • To control the livestock diseases by 2025, and eradicate them by 2030.
  • The livestock that will be covered under the programme includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, and pigs against the FMD.
• The project will be fully funded by the Central Government.

Foot and Mouth Disease

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a severe, highly contagious viral disease of livestock that has a significant economic impact.

• The disease affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats and other cloven-hoofed ruminants.
• FMD virus belongs to (risk group 4 as per World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Aphthovirus genus of the picornaviridae family.
• FMD can spread when infected animals bring the virus into physical contact with susceptible animals.
• Virus contaminated facilities, contaminated vehicles, raw or improperly cooked garbage containing infected meat or animal products can also spread the virus of FMD.
• In rare cases, humans are also susceptible.

Brucellosis

• Brucellosis is a bacterial disease caused by various Brucella species, which mainly infect cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs.
• Humans generally acquire the disease through direct contact with infected animals, by eating or drinking contaminated animal products, or by inhaling airborne agents.
• The majority of cases are caused by ingesting unpasteurized milk or cheese from infected goats or sheep.
• The disease causes flu-like symptoms, including fever, weakness, malaise and weight loss.