Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

 Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

About:

• “Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)” a sub-component of Soil Health Management (SHM) scheme under National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA)
• PMKY was launched in 2015. 
• It aims at development of sustainable models of organic farming through a mix of traditional wisdom and modern science to ensure long term soil fertility buildup, resource conservation and helps in climate change adaptation and mitigation.
• It primarily aims to increase soil fertility and thereby helps in production of healthy food through organic practices without the use of agro-chemicals.
• PKVY also aims at empowering farmers through institutional development through clusters approach not only in farm practice management, input production, quality assurance but also in value addition and direct marketing through innovative means.
• Participatory Guarantee System under PGS-India programme will be the key approach for quality assurances under the PKVY.
• The farmers will have option to adopt any form of organic farming in compliance of PGS-India standards. While adopting a system it must be ensured that the system adopted is compatible to the area and crop and assures optimum yield and provides adequate measures to manage nutrients, pests and diseases.
• Farmers will have the flexibility to use appropriate package of practice(s) best suited to their situations.

Objectives Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana

1. To promote natural resource based integrated and climate resilient sustainable farming systems that ensure maintenance and increase the soil fertility, natural resource conservation, on-farm nutrient recycling and minimize dependence of farmers on external inputs.
2. To reduce cost of agriculture to farmers through sustainable integrated organic farming systems thereby enhancing farmer’s net income per unit of land.
3. To sustainably produce chemical free and nutritious food for human consumption.
4. To protect environment from hazardous inorganic chemicals by adoption of eco friendly low cost traditional techniques and farmer friendly technologies.
5. To empower farmers through their own institutional development in the form of clusters and group with capacity to manage production, processing, value addition and certification management.
6. To make farmers entrepreneurs through direct market linkages with local and national markets.

Expected outcomes

• Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.
• The produce will be pesticide residue free and will contribute to improve the health of consumer.
• It will raise farmer’s income and create potential market for traders.
• It will motivate the farmers for natural resource mobilization for input production.

Funding pattern:

The funding pattern under the scheme is in the ratio of 60:40 by the Central and State Governments respectively. In the case of North Eastern and the Himalayan States, Central Assistance is provided in the ratio of 90:10 (Centre: State).

Implementation of the programme:

• PKVY is being implemented by the Organic Farming cell of the Integrated Nutrient Management (Division) of the Department of Agriculture; Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW)
• At the State level, the State Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has been implementing the scheme with the involvement of Regional Councils that are registered under the PGS- India Certification Programme
• At the district level, the Regional Councils (RCs) within the district anchor the implementation of PKVY.

How will PKVY effect organic farming:

• Groups of farmers would be motivated to take up organic farming under Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
• Fifty or more farmers will form a cluster having 50 acre land to take up the organic farming under the scheme.
• In this way during three years 10,000 clusters will be formed covering 5.0 lakh acre area under organic farming.
• There will be no liability on the farmers for expenditure on certification.
• Every farmer will be provided Rs. 20,000 per acre in three years for seed to harvesting of crops and to transport produce to the market.
• The produce will be pesticide residue free and will contribute to improving the health of the consumer.
• Organic farming will be promoted by using traditional resources and the organic products will be linked with the market.
• It will increase domestic production and certification of organic produce by involving farmers
• Adoption of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification through cluster approach
• Adoption of organic village for manure management and biological nitrogen harvesting through cluster approach

Challenges:

• The Centre’s free organic certification programme “the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” has not picked up as most States have failed to utilise the funds set aside for the scheme.
• A 2018 report on the implementation of PKVY highlights that all states, except Tripura, Odisha and Karnataka, have failed to utilise even 50 per cent of their funds under the scheme.
• While the Centre has increased allocation for the scheme by 44 per cent for the current year, corrective measures are needed to ensure that the states become responsible and contribute toward “organic India”

Key components

• Model Organic Cluster Demonstrations: 

Model Organic Cluster Demonstrations aim at boosting/ promoting organic farming among rural youth/ farmers/ consumers/ traders by creating awareness on the latest technologies of organic farming. These are conducted at the farmer’s field in clusters of 20 ha or 50 acres under PKVY

Organic farming and its significance:

Organic cultivation doesn’t involve the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and thus helps to maintain a harmonious balance among the various complex ecosystems. Also it improves the quality of the soil which further improves the standards of the crops produced there. In the long term, organic farming leads in subsistence of agriculture, bio-diversity conservation and environmental protection. It will also help in building the soil health resulting in sustainable increased crop production.

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