Modi government allots Rs 4000 crore to states under ‘Per Drop More Crop’ component

Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare is implementing the ‘Per Drop More Crop’ component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY- PDMC). Annual allotment of Rs 4,000 crore has been made to State Governments under ‘Per Drop More Crop’ component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY- PDMC) for the year 2020-21. While announcing about the same, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare further made an announcement about creation of Micro Irrigation Fund corpus of Rs 5,000 crore with NABARD for special and innovative projects.

Informing about the decision the Ministry of Finance and Farmers' Welfare said, "The PMKSY-PDMC focuses on enhancing water use efficiency at farm level through Micro Irrigation technologies viz. Drip and Sprinkler irrigation systems. Drip micro irrigation technique not only helps in water saving but also in reducing fertilizer usage, labour expenses and other input costs." The ministry went on to add that for the current year, an annual allotment of Rs 4,000 crore has already been allocated and conveyed to the State Governments.  The State Governments have identified the beneficiaries to be covered under the programme. Fund release to some of the States is already under process for the year 2020-21.

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"Further, Micro Irrigation Fund corpus of Rs 5,000 crore has been created with NABARD. The objective of the fund is to facilitate the states in mobilizing the resources for expanding coverage of Micro Irrigation by taking up special and innovative projects and also for incentivising micro irrigation beyond the provisions available under PMKSY-PDMC to encourage farmers to install micro irrigation systems," said Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

So far, Micro Irrigation Funds have been released to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for Rs 616.14 crore and for Rs.478.79 crore, respectively through NABARD. The area covered under these projects is 1.021 lakh ha. in Andhra Pradesh and 1.76 lakh ha. in Tamil Nadu.

During the last five years (2015-16 to 2019-20), an area of 46.96 lakh ha. has been covered under Micro Irrigation through PMKSY-PDMC.