Agriculture and Allied Sectors

'Kisan Divas' is celebrated in India every year on 23 December, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister of India Chaudhary Charan Singh.

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 (which became Act in September, 2020 but was later repealed on 1 December, 2021) had provisions for intra-state and inter-state trade of farmers' produce be- yond the physical premises of APMC (Agriculture Produce Market Committees) markets. State governments were pro- hibited from levying any market fee, cess or levy outside APMC areas. Essential Commodities, Contract Farming and Minimum Support Price were not mentioned in that bill (Act). 'Essential Commodities' and 'Contract Farming' were part of other two Farm Acts - 'Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020' and 'Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020' respectively (which were also repealed on 1 December, 2021).

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget 2020-21 speech said that the Government is committed to doubling farmers' income by 2022 and towards this goal, she announced 16 action points plan for farmers which is centred around agriculture, irrigation and rural development. The Union Budget 2020-21 had focused on rural development with aim of doubling farmers' income and the government allocated Rs. 2.83 lakh crore for agriculture and allied activities, irrigation and rural development. Hence, both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Genetic industries are engaged in re-production and multiplication of certain species of plant and animals with the object of sale. The main aim is to earn profit from such sale. Examples of genetic industries includes nurseries (where plants are grown for the sale), poultry farm (where birds are raised for meat and eggs), animal husbandry, pisciculture (for growing fish in ponds, canals and rivers), orchard (to harvest different kind of fruits) and agriculture or farming for growing crops.

Procurement and distribution of food grains and maintenance of food grains buffer stock are main objectives of food management in India, while export of food grains is not an objective of food management in India.

Public Distribution System (PDS), Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Maintenance of Buffer Stock - the Government of India has adopted all these measures to improve the system of agricultural marketing in India. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

All of the given factors/policies were affecting the price of rice in India in the recent past. Minimum support price impacts the price of rice in India as it is directed at providing insurance to agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. The government typically buys more than one- third of the country's rice output at a fixed price, which also has a direct impact on prices paid by traders. In the recent years, sale of wheat and rice is undertaken through Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) so as to check inflationary trend in prices of food grains. Prices of rice (and wheat) remained stable in recent past due to adequate supply and also due to maintenance of adequate buffer stock of rice (and wheat) by the FCI. The impact of consumer subsidies is to lower prices for the consumers, e.g. the National Food Security Act provides rice at Rs. 3 per kg to the poor families.

Public investment means investment in creation of physical infrastructure, such as, setting up cold storage facilities, construction of canals and rural roads, computerization of primary credit societies, social capital formation with education and training, research and development etc. Hence, statement (2), (3) and (6) are correct.

Investment is a term associated with the capital part of the budget. Subsidy is a revenue part and it is not included in public investment. Thus, subsidies and loan waivers are not investment. Free electricity supply to farmers and waiver of agricultural loans by the banking system are parts of the government's subsidy policy. Public investment in agriculture constitutes investment made by government to create capital or social assets to improve agricultural productivity. Fixing MSP gives farmers the remunerative price S. (Pre) 2020 without creating any durable infrastructure. Hence, statement (1), (4) and (5) are incorrect.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) is a Central Sector scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India. It has become operational from 1.12.2018. The initiative was announced during the 2019 Interim Union Bud- get of India on 1 February 2019. On 24 February 2019, PM Narendra Modi officially launched the scheme in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs. 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. Under the scheme, an income support of Rs. 6,000 per year in three equal installments is provided to all land holding farmer families. Definition of family for the scheme is husband, wife and minor children. Respective State Governments and UT administrations have to identify the farmer families which are eligible for support as per scheme guidelines.

National Agriculture Market (eN A M) is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. Integration of APMCs across the country through a common online market platform to facilitate pan-India trade in agriculture commodities, providing better price discovery through transparent auction process based on quality of produce along with timely online payment to farmers is the mission of eN A M. It provides access to a nationwide market for the farmer, with prices commensurate with quality of his produce and availability of better quality produce at more reasonable prices to the consumers. Hence, both the given statements are correct.