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Merger of Agriculture Schemes & National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds
Context:
The Union Cabinet has merged all central schemes in the agriculture sector into two major schemes: Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) and Krishonnati Yojana (KY), with a total expenditure of ₹1,01,321.61 crore. The central share will be ₹69,088.98 crore, while states will contribute ₹32,232.63 crore.
Objectives and Focus Areas
- PM-RKVY: Allocated ₹57,074.72 crore, it focuses on promoting sustainable agriculture.
- KY: With ₹44,246.89 crore, it aims to address food security and agricultural self-sufficiency.
- Both schemes will tackle challenges like nutrition security, sustainability, climate resilience, value chain development, and increased private sector participation. States will have flexibility in developing strategic agricultural plans.
Significance of Rationalisation:
- The rationalisation avoids duplication, ensures convergence of resources, and offers states the flexibility to reallocate funds as per local needs.
- Existing schemes like Soil Health Management, Rainfed Area Development, AgroForestry, and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana will be merged into the new schemes.
National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds)
- Timeline and Outlay:The Cabinet has also approved the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds, with an outlay of ₹10,103 crore over seven years (2024-25 to 2030-31).
The mission aims to:
- Increase oilseed production from 39 million tonnes to 69.7 million tonnes by 2030-31.
- Focus on key crops such as rapeseed-mustard, groundnut, soybean, sunflower, and sesamum.
- Enhance extraction from secondary sources like cottonseed, rice bran, and tree-borne oils.
- Reducing Import Dependency:The mission targets reducing India’s dependency on imported edible oil from 57% to 28% within seven years, ensuring greater self-reliance.
Strategic Initiatives
- To achieve these goals, the mission will promote high-yielding seed varieties, extend cultivation into fallow lands, and adopt advanced technologies like genome editing.
- The SATHI portal will support seed traceability and ensure a steady supply of quality seeds.
NITI AAYOG Document named: Promoting MILLETS IN DIETS BEST PRACTICES ACROSS STATES/UTs OF INDIA Gives an Overview of Odisha Millet Mission (OMM)-
- Launched in 2017, the Odisha Millet Mission (OMM) aims to revive millet cultivation and consumption, particularly in tribal areas.
- The initiative focuses on production, processing, consumption, and marketing of millets, with a special emphasis on including them in government schemes.
Pre-Mission Situation
Before OMM, Odisha faced significant challenges:
- High rates of malnutrition among children under five, especially in tribal areas.
- Decline in millet cultivation due to a shift towards commercial crops, drudgery in millet processing, lack of storage, and insufficient government support.
Objectives of Odisha Millet Mission
- Promote household consumption of millets.
- Improve millet productivity through better agronomic practices.
- Support market linkages by promoting Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
- Set up decentralised processing units to reduce drudgery.
- Incorporate millets into government schemes like ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme), MDM (Mid-Day Meal), and PDS (Public Distribution System).
Key Impacts of OMM
- Expansion: OMM started in 30 blocks (7 districts) in 2017 and has expanded to 142 blocks (19 districts) by 2021.
- Farmer Participation: Over 11 lakh farmers have adopted millet cultivation on more than 54,000 hectares.
- Increased Productivity: Millet production per hectare more than doubled from 5.79 quintals/hectare to 12.72 quintals/hectare.
- Market Support: OMM procured 3,23,000 quintals of millets from 41,286 farmers in 2021-22. FPOs have been integral in supporting farmers’ marketing efforts.
- Income Growth: The gross value of produce per farmer household increased threefold, from ₹3,957 to ₹12,486 between 2018 and 2021.
Gender and Climate Resilience
- Reduced Women’s Drudgery: Decentralised processing has alleviated the workload for women.
- Climate Resilience: The increased focus on millets, particularly finger millet, has improved farmers’ resilience to drought and other climate challenges.
Millets in ODISHA Government Schemes
- Ragi Distribution: Ragi has been distributed to over 50 lakh beneficiaries in 14 districts through PDS.
- Ragi Laddu in ICDS: Ragi laddu was introduced as a morning snack for preschool children in Keonjhar and Sundargarh, benefiting 1,50,682 children in 7,066 Anganwadi centres.
- Expansion of Millet Inclusion: Plans are underway to scale up the inclusion of millet-based products in ICDS, MDM, and PDS.
Millet Shakti Cafés and Nutritional Benefits
- Millet Shakti Cafés: These cafes serve millet-based dishes, reaching over 4.4 lakh people in two years.
- Nutritional Security: OMM focuses on the nutritionally vulnerable, particularly children, by including millet-based entitlements in government schemes.
National Recognition and Future Plans
- Recognition: Odisha was named the “Best Millet Promoting State” by ICAR-IIMR and FAO.
- Scaling Up: The program is set to expand into more blocks and districts, with the inclusion of ragi in more government schemes. Other states like Chhattisgarh are looking to replicate the OMM model.