Government has introduced Diesel
Subsidy Scheme to offset the cost of diesel used for pumping water for
providing supplementary and protective irrigation to standing crops in drought
affected areas. Government has also
enhanced ceiling on subsidies on seeds of cereals, pulses & oilseeds and
coarse cereals to partially recompense the farmers for the additional
expenditure incurred by them in resowing and / or
purchasing drought tolerant variety of seeds.
Diesel
Subsidy Scheme
Under this scheme, 50% of the cost
of diesel for supplementary and protective irrigation will be provided as
financial assistance to farmers, limited to 2 ha per farmer, which will be
equally shared by Government of India (GOI) and respective State Government /
Union Territory. GOI’s contribution will
be capped at Rs. 750 per ha. The scheme
would operate till 30th September, 2012 in the following areas:
(i)
Districts where rainfall deficit was more than 50% as
on 15th July, 2012, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD)
data, or
(ii)
Talukas and districts
declared as drought affected areas by the respective State Governments; or
(iii)
Areas with prolonged dry spell with rainfall deficit of
60% or more, for any continuous 15 days period, beginning from 15th
July 2012.
Enhanced Seed Subsidy Scheme
Under this scheme, ceiling on
seeds subsidy is enhanced from the rate of Rs.500 per quintal to Rs.700 per
quintal in respect of cereals, from Rs.1200 per quintal to Rs.2000 per quintal
in respect of pulses and oilseeds, and from Rs.800 per quintal to Rs.1000 per
quintal in respect of coarse cereals.
This enhancement will be available under various ongoing schemes of DAC
namely Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oilpalm
and Maize (ISOPOM), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Macro Management of
Agriculture (MMA), and Rashtriya Krishi
Vikas Yojana (RKVY),
Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Programme (INSIMP) & Bringing Green Revolution in
Eastern India Programme (BGREI) etc.
This information was given by Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of
Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in written reply to a question in
the Rajya Sabha today.
MP:CP: diesel (31.8.2012)