As told to Parliament (August 6, 2024): 4-8% grains, 5-15% fruits & vegetables lost after harvest

According to a 2022 study commissioned by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS), the quantitative harvest and post-harvest losses for selected crops were found to be between 3.89 per cent and 5.92 per cent for cereals, 5.65 per cent and 6.74 per cent for pulses, 2.87 per cent and 7.51 per cent for oil seeds, 6.02 per cent and 15.05 per cent for fruits, and 4.87 per cent and 11.61 per cent for vegetables, as stated by Ramnath Thakur, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in the Lok Sabha.

Nearly 6 million ha under organic farming

The total area under organic farming in the country amounts to 5.97 million hectares, with 4.48 million hectares under the National Programme on Organic Production and 1.5 million hectares under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (including 215,000 hectares under the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati), said Thakur at the Lok Sabha.

Additionally, 4.83 million farmers have been mobilised, with 2.36 million under the National Programme on Organic Production and 2.47 million under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (including 534,000 under the Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati), Thakur added.

Rs 948.4 cr in disaster mitigation fund allocated to Assam

The 15th Finance Commission (XV-FC) highlighted the significant socio-economic impacts of coastal and river erosion. It addressed two main aspects of erosion: Mitigation measures to prevent erosion (under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund) and the resettlement of displaced individuals affected by erosion (under the National Disaster Response Fund).

Additionally, based on the XV-FC's recommendations, the central government allocated Rs 948.4 crore to the state government of Assam, under the State Disaster Mitigation Fund for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26, said Nityanand Rai, Union Minister of State for home affairs, in the Lok Sabha.

Climate change could halve rainfed rice yield in 50 years

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), through an integrated computer simulation modeling study, has indicated that without the adoption of adaptation measures, climate change may reduce rainfed rice yields by 20 per cent by 2050 and 47 per cent by 2080, Bhagirath Choudhary, Minister of State for agriculture and farmers Welfare, in the Lok Sabha.

Similarly, irrigated rice yields could decrease by 3.5 per cent by 2050 and 5 per cent by 2080, wheat yields by 19.3 per cent by 2050 and 40 per cent by 2080 and kharif maize yields by 18-23 per cent by 2050 and 2080.

However, soybean yields are expected to increase by 3-10 per cent by 2030 and 14 per cent by 2080.

Over the past decade (2014-24), 57 drought- and low moisture stress-tolerant rice varieties have been developed, suitable for cultivation in low rainfall areas, Choudhary told the Lok Sabha.

PM KUSUM scheme extended

The government initiated the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) scheme in March 2019, with implementation guidelines released in July 2019, Union Minister of State for new & renewable energy and power, in the Rajya Sabha

The scheme was expanded in November 2020 and again in January 2024, with revised targets, including the installation of 10,000 MW of decentralised ground / stilt-mounted grid-connected solar or other renewable energy-based power plants by farmers on their land under component-A, the installation of 1.4 million standalone solar agriculture pumps under component-B and the solarisation of 3.5 million grid-connected agriculture pumps, including feeder-level solarisation under Component-C. The scheme has been extended until March 31, 2026, as stated by Shripad Yesso Naik.

Sanitary napkin use in villages growing by 75%

According to the latest National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), 58.9 per cent of women aged 15-24 in rural areas use sanitary napkins, compared to 33.6 per cent in NFHS-4 (2015-16).

This marked an increase of 25.3 percentage points, with a growth rate of 75.3 per cent. The results of the 6th round of NFHS have not yet been released, as stated by Anupriya Patel, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in the Rajya Sabha.

Government health expenditure as a share of GDP didn’t grow in last three fiscals

According to the National Health Policy of 2017, public health investment is projected to reach 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025, said Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State for health and family welfare, in the Rajya Sabha.

This commitment is reflected in the National Health Accounts Estimates of India, which show an increase in government health spending as a percentage of total health expenditure, rising from 29 per cent in 2014-15 to 41.4 per cent in 2019-20. Additionally, the Government Health Expenditure (GHE), as a percentage of GDP, grew from 1.13 per cent in 2014-15 to 1.35 per cent in 2019-20.

The Economic Survey 2023-24 reported that GHE as a percentage of GDP was 1.6 per cent, 1.9 per cent, 1.9 per cent and 1.9 per cent for the years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 (RE) and 2023-24 (BE) respectively.