PIB Analysis : 4th February

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Reasons for Low Agricultural Income
2. National Farmer’s Welfare Programme Implementation Society
3. Global Hunger Index (GHI) 
4. Def Expo 2020
5. Indigenous Technology for Artificial Insemination
6. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)
7. TB Harega, Desh Jeetega” campaign
8. Facts for Prelims

1 . Reasons for Low Agricultural Income

Background

• The average income of agricultural households in the country is estimated by National Statistical Office (NSO) through the ‘Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households’ conducted from time to time.
• The first such survey was conducted in rural parts of the country during National Sample Survey (NSS) 59^th round (January 2003- December 2003). Thereafter, a repeat survey was conducted during NSS 70^th round (January 2013- December 2013). As per the Survey results, which although not strictly comparable, the average monthly income per agricultural household from various sources is estimated to have increased from Rs. 2115 in 2003 to Rs. 6426 in 2013.

Reasons

• The Survey report has not mentioned the reasons for low level of income of agricultural households in the country.
• However, predominance of small and marginal operational holdings, low irrigation coverage, poor soil health, inadequate marketing facilities and post-harvest supporting services, and lack of focus on the allied sectors of agriculture, etc., may be attributed as main reasons for low level of growth of income of people engaged in the agriculture sector.    

Govt Interventions

• Growth rate of Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture and allied sector is directly and indirectly affected by various factors, including changes in income of agricultural households.
• With a view to make agriculture more remunerative, various Schemes are implemented by the Government, viz., Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY); Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme; National Agriculture Market Scheme (e-NAM); Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY); National Food Security Mission (NFSM); Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA); Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH); and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
• Besides, Government has adopted the principle of fixing Minimum Support Price (MSP) at a level of 50 per cent over the all-India weighted average cost of production of crops.
• Moreover, with a view to provide income support to all farmers’ families across the country, the Central Government has started a new Central Sector Scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The Scheme aims to provide a payment of Rs. 6000/- per year, in three installments of Rs. 2000/- each to the farmer families, subject to certain exclusions relating to higher income groups.
• Government has also focused on the aggregation of small and marginal farmers into groups for overcoming market imperfections and to realize better prices for their produce.

2 . National Farmer’s Welfare Programme Implementation Society

About National Farmer’s Welfare Programme Implementation Society

• The government has formed a society to run all Centre-sponsored farmer welfare schemes including PM-KISAN to improve monitoring and targeting
• The Farmers’ Welfare Programmes Implementation Society has been registered under the Societies Registration Act and it will run as an independent unit with agriculture secretary as the chairman.
• The society will be free to hire resources for running schemes and the central government will bear all the administrative costs. It has been mandated to develop database of farmers and run all the direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes
• The Centre runs two major farmers’ welfare schemes across the country. In February 2019, it had launched PM-KISAN, under which farmers get Rs 6,000 annually in three equal instalments. In May last year, the government announced a contributory pension scheme for small and marginal farmers in the age group of 18-40. Under this scheme, farmers would be paid a pension of Rs 3,000 per month after attaining the age of 60.

3 . Global Hunger Index (GHI) 

Background

• As per information available in the public domain, India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 brought out by Concern World Wide is 102. India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2018 was 103.
• As per GHI Report 2019 of Concern World Wide, the composite GHI scores of India have improved from 38.8 in 2000 to 30.3 in 2019. Thus, the country has shown consistent improvement over the years.

Government Interventions

• The Government of India accords high priority to the issue of hunger and has been providing foodgrains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS).

NFSA

• NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population of the country for receiving foodgrains @ Rs 1/2/3 per kg for nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively.
• Identification of beneficiaries under the Act is under two categories- households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH), within the coverage determined for the State/UT.
• While Priority Households are entitled to receive 5 kg per person per month, AAY households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, continue to receive 35 Kg of foodgrains per household per month.
• At present, the Act is being implemented in all the States/UTs covering about 80 crore persons to get highly subsidized foodgrains.
• The coverage under the Act is substantially high to ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit.
• The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women, lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age are entitled to nutritious meals, free of cost, as per the prescribed nutritional standards.
• In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance.
• The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.
• The implementation of NFSA through the Public Distribution System (PDS) is a joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments/UT Administrations, and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for the identification of beneficiaries under the NFSA.

4 . Def Expo 2020

Context : Def Expo 2020 will be held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh from 5^th to 9^th Feb 2020.

About Def Expo 2020

• Def Expo-2020 is a flagship biennial event of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, one of the largest events of its kind is being held for the first time in Lucknow,
• The 11^th edition of Def Expo promises to bring new technologies, technological solutions, where Defence manufacturing companies from India and abroad showcase their products and services in Defence arena, on a single platform.
• The tremendous response shown by Defence manufacturing companies and the partner countries, will surely hold Defence Expo 2020 on a higher pedestal in terms of the offerings for Defence related industries.

Def Expo Event and Theme

• The main theme of the DefExpo India- 2020 is ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ and the focus will be on ‘Digital Transformation of Defence’.
• Reflecting the Government’s focus on ‘Make in India’, Def Expo 2020, would offer an excellent opportunity for the Indian Defence industry to showcase its capabilities and promote its export potential.
• Defence Expo 2020 would prove to be an effective platform to showcase the unique products that help achieving the Digital Transformation of Defence, where India’s Defence public sector units, and alsoIndia’s growing private industry and MSME will be bringing their cutting-edge technological products to be showcased to the World.

Participation

• The number of companies registered for participating in the DefExpo 2020 has reached 1,028. In the DefExpo 2018, held in Chennai, 702 companies had participated. Thus, it has become by far the biggest ever DefExpo to be held in India.

5 . Indigenous Technology for Artificial Insemination

Context : Indian Council of Agricultural Research informed that ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal (Haryana) and Anand Agricultural University, Anand (Gujarat) are undertaking research on basic and applied aspects for developing an alternate method of sexing of cattle semen under a project entitled “Incentivising research in agriculture for developing an alternative method for sexing of semen as the technology” since 2015.

Steps taken by the Government to conserve and develop indigenous breeds of cattle are as under:

•  Nationwide Artificial Insemination (AI) programme: Nationwide AI programme has been launched on 11th September 2019 for implementation in 600 districts with less than 50% Artificial Insemination coverage covering 100 villages per district 200 animals per village. During the programe from 15th September 2019 to 15th March 2020 about 1.2 crore animals will be covered, so far 22 lakh Artificial inseminations have been performed and 12.1 lakh farmers got benefitted as on date 31.01.2020.
• Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan: Artificial Insemination Coverage (AI) with High Yielding Indigenous Breeds: In the 112 aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog. Under the programme 9.05 lakh artificial inseminations have been performed for protection of indigenous breeds.
• Establishment/strengthening of Embryo Transfer and In-Vitro Fertilization centres: Projects for strengthening/ establishment of 30 ETT/IVF labs have been sanctioned for propagation of elite animals of indigenous breeds and to meet demand to bulls of indigenous breeds. Out of 30 labs approved under the scheme 19 labs have been made established. Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Breeds (CoEIB) are under establishment for providing training in ETT, IVF, Sex Sorted Semen production, Genomics and retraining of skilled manpower in latest developments in breeding technologies.
• National Bovine Genomic Centre for Indigenous Breeds (NBGC-IB): Funds have been released to National Bureau of Animal Genetics Resources and National Dairy Development Board for development of genomic chip. A custom made genotyping chip (INDUSCHIP) which is suitable to genotype Indian cattle breeds and their crosses has been developed by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and till date 15000 animals have been genotyped in order to create referral population. NDDB has developed buffchip for genomic selection of buffaloes with the help of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and till date 4000 buffaloes have been genotyped.
• Establishment of Facility for Sex Sorted Semen Production: Projects from 12 semen stations Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been sanctioned and Central Share has been released to 10 stations. The use of sex sorted semen will not only enhance milk production but also crucial in limiting population of male cattle/ stray cattle.
• E Pashu Haat Portal: E Pashu Haat portal has been developed for connecting breeders and farmers regarding availability of quality bovine germplasm of indigenous breeds. Information of 11.31crores semen doses; 363 embryos and 18.13 lakh live animals is available on the portal as on date 31.01.2020.
• Gokul Gram: 21 Integrated indigenous cattle development Centres – “Gokul Grams”- are being established under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission with the aim of conservation and development of indigenous bovine breeds in a scientific and holistic manner.
• National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre: Two National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre (NKBC) as repository of indigenous germplasm of all indigenous breeds and supply of certified germplasm to the farmers undertaking rearing of indigenous breeds and increasing their stock are under establishment. Establishment of NKBC in Andhra Pradesh at Chintaladevi located in Nellore District has been completed and work is under progress for Northern Region NKBC in Madhya Pradesh.
• Pashu Sanjivni: Animals are being identified under the Pashu Sanjivni using poly urethane tags with 12 digit unique identification number and their data is being uploaded on INAPH database. As on date 2.55 crore animals have been tagged and their data have been uploaded on INAPH data base.
• National Gopal Ratna and Kamdhenu Awards: In order to create awareness and reward for farmers and Institutions who are engaged in scientific management of recognized Indigenous cattle breeds, National Gopal Ratna and National Kamdhenu Award have been instituted under Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

6 . Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)

Context :The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has sanctioned 39 Mega Food Parks and 298 Integrated Cold Chain Projects throughout the country to fill in the gaps across the value chain and establishing the Cold Chain Grid.

About PMKSY

• The MoFPI is focusing on building cold chain infrastructure across the country, for seamless transfer of perishables from production to consumption areas, through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), which comprises of component schemes namely
  • Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure
  • Mega Food Park
  • Creation of Backward & Forward Linkages
  • Creation/ Expansion of Food Processing and Preservation Capacities
  • Agro Processing Clusters
  • Operation Greens
• These schemes aim at arresting post-harvest losses of horticulture and non-horticulture produce by encouraging the creation of cold storages/ primary processing/ and transportation facilities across the country.

7 . TB Harega, Desh Jeetega” campaign

Context : The government is committed to achieving the targets of National Strategic Plan (2017-2025). Incidence has decreased from 217 per lakh in 2015 to 199 per lakh in 2018 and the total TB Notification has increased from 16.2 lakhs in 2015 to 23.7 lakhs in 2019.

About the Campaign

“TB Harega, Desh Jeetega” campaign was launched recently as an Accelerator to National Strategic Plan with the objectives of:

• Promoting health seeking behavior in the community for early case detection
• Preventing emergence of new cases of TB

It includes following key components under “TB Harega, Desh Jeetega” campaign:

• Community Engagement
• Advocacy and Communication
• Health & Wellness centres and TB
• Inter-Ministerial collaboration
• Private health sector engagement
• Corporate sector engagement
• Latent TB Infection Management

Facts for Prelims

Common Facility Centre (CFC)

CFC will lead to creation of tangible “assets” as Common Facility Centers (CFCs) like Common Production/Processing Centre (for balancing/correcting/improving production line that cannot be undertaken by individual units), Design Centres, Testing Facilities, Training Centre, R&D Centres, Effluent Treatment Plant, Marketing Display/Selling Centre, Common Logistics Centre, Common Raw Material Bank/Sales Depot, etc.