Union Government constituted panel to double farmers’ income by 2022

Union government on 22 April 2016 constituted the inter-ministerial panel to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers' income by 2022.

The government's decision to set up the panel follows the budget announcement that set a target of doubling farm incomes by 2022.

The panel will be headed by Ashok Dalwai, Additional Secretary at the Union Agriculture Ministry. The other members will be officials from Agriculture and Food Ministries as well as experts from the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research and National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research.

 Salient Features of the inter-ministerial panel

• The panel will prepare a plan to shift farm policies from being production-oriented to income based ones.

• The eight-member panel will determine the potential areas of agriculture to investment and also suggests different ways to reduce the risk of farming by diversifying to horticulture and allied activities like livestock and fisheries to boost income.

• The panel is expected to submit the report in two months. It will also look at reducing the cost of cultivation and addressing unpredictability of weather and price fluctuations in farm sector.

• The government is focusing not only on increasing crop yields but also on reducing the cost of cultivation to increase the net income of farmers.

• The schemes on soil health card, neem-coated urea and per drop more crop, are aimed to bring down the cost of cultivation.

Besides, the government is trying to address the unpredictability in agriculture due to market fluctuations, and due to weather by setting up an electronic National Agriculture Market and implementing a new crop insurance scheme.

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