Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana

As per the agriculture census, the percentage of female operational holdings in the country have increased from 12.78 per cent during 2010-11 to 13.78 per cent during 2015-16, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The agriculture census is conducted at an interval of every five years by the department of agriculture, cooperation and farmers welfare.

In line with the provisions of the National Policy for Farmers (NPF), ministry of rural development is already implementing a programme exclusively for female farmers - Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) - which is a sub-component of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM).

Funding support to the tune of up to 60 per cent (90 per cent for north-eastern states) for such projects is provided by the Centre.

The department of agriculture cooperation and farmers welfare is also promoting mainstreaming of gender concerns in agriculture by ensuring flow of funds and benefits to the tune of 30 per cent for female farmers under its beneficiary oriented schemes and programmes.

Also, the government is providing additional support and assistance to female farmers, over and above the male farmers under a few selected schemes.

Women and agriculture

Rural women form the most productive workforce in the economy of the majority of the developing nations, including India.

Agriculture, the single largest production endeavour in India, contributing to 16 per cent of the GDP, is increasingly becoming a female activity.

The agriculture sector employs 80 per cent of all economically active women - they comprise 33 per cent of the agricultural labour force and 48 per cent of self-employed farmers.

According to an NSSO report, about 18 per cent of the farm families in India are reportedly headed by women.

Beyond the conventional market-oriented, narrower definition of ‘productive workers’, almost all women in rural India can be considered as ‘farmers’ in some sense, working as agricultural labourers, unpaid workers in the family farm enterprises or a combination of the two.

The Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana was announced during Budget 2010-11.

The objectives are…

* To enhance the productive participation of women in agriculture.

* To create sustainable agricultural livelihood opportunities for women in agriculture.

* To improve the skills and capabilities of women in agriculture to support farm and non-farm-based activities.

* To ensure food and nutrition security at the household and community level.

* To enable women to have better access to inputs and services of the government and other agencies.

* To enhance the managerial capacities of women in agriculture for better management of biodiversity.

* To improve the capacities of women in agriculture to access the resources of other institutions and schemes within a convergence framework.

National Dairy Plan in 18 states

The department of animal husbandry and dairying is implementing the World Bank-assisted National Dairy Plan Phase 1 (NDP-1) in 18 states to support milk cooperatives and milk producer companies along with breeding improvement initiative.

Milk production during 2017-18 was 176.35 million tonnes. Production at national level is by and large sufficient to meet the domestic demand of milk and milk products, Minister of State Sanjeev Balyan said in Lok Sabha.

This department is implementing dairy development schemes to increase milk production across the country.

The schemes are:

* Rashtriya Gokul Mission with the aim to develop and conserve indigenous breeds and enhancing their production and productivity.

* Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme is being implemented with the objective of generation of self-employment opportunities in the dairy sector, covering activities such as enhancement of milk production, procurement, preservation, transportation, processing and marketing of milk.

* National Programme for Dairy Development is being implemented with the objective to create infrastructure for milk procurement, processing and marketing.

Background

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 21 per cent of global production, followed by the US, China, Pakistan and Brazil.

India’s milk production increased from 165.40 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 176.35 million tonnes in 2017-18, a growth rate of 6.62 per cent.

As per the ‘Food Outlook, 2018’ published by the FAO, world milk production increased from 800.2 million tonnes in 2016 to 811.9 million tonnes in 2017, a growth rate of 1.46 per cent.

The per capita availability of milk in India during 2017-18 was 375 gm/day and by 2023-24, it is estimated to increase to 592 gm/day.

According to the latest report of the Central Statistics Office, livestock value output is Rs 917,910 crore at current prices in 2016-17. Milk constitutes 67 per cent of the total value or Rs 614,387 crore. The contribution of cattle milk is less than 50 per cent of the total milk produced in India.

National Dairy Plan Phase-1 (NDP-1)

The National Dairy Plan Phase-1, with an outlay of Rs 2,242 crore, is a central sector scheme for implementation during 2011-12 to 2018-19.

Under NDP-1, 364 projects have been approved with a total outlay of Rs 1,904.22 crore out of which Rs 897.97 crore has been released to the implementing agencies.

Under this scheme Bulk Milk Coolers (BMCs) for milk of 5,200 thousand litres per day (TLPD) capacity has been approved to help in reducing spoilage of milk due to high temperature.

NDP-I is being implemented in 18 states constituting 90 per cent of the milk production through National Dairy Development Board.

The objectives are:

* To help increase the productivity of milch animals and thereby increase milk production to meet the rapidly growing demand for milk.

* To help provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milk-processing sector.