New Delhi: Haryana and Gujarat did not spend any of the Rs 15 lakh they received in total for organic farming over the last three years under the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Union agriculture minister Arjun Munda said in parliament recently.
He said that Haryana and Gujarat received Rs 5.05 lakh and Rs 10.10 lakh respectively under the scheme in the last three years.
Goa received Rs 0 and Telangana received Rs 15.15 lakh in the same time period, while other eligible states received over Rs 4 crore.
Uttarakhand received the highest amount, at Rs 180 crore, and utilised Rs 143 crore.
States that did not spend any of the funds they received under the scheme over the last three years are Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana. Of these, Punjab received the highest amount at Rs 18.03 crore, the information provided by Munda said.
Munda was responding to a question by BJP MP from Gujarat Rajeshbhai Chudasama and BRS MP from Telangana Nama Nageswara Rao on steps the government was taking to promote organic and natural farming.
The PKVY is one of two Union government schemes intended to promote organic farming and is implemented in all states other than those in the north-east, Munda’s response said. The other scheme exclusively covers India’s northeastern states.
They involve direct-benefit transfers to farmers for using organic inputs, including organic fertilisers.
“Both the schemes stress on end-to-end support to farmers engaged in organic farming, i.e. from production to processing, certification and marketing, and post-harvest management,” Munda said, adding that they also focused on training and capacity building.
His response also said that the Union government was promoting natural farming – which differs from organic farming in avoiding purchased farm inputs – under a ‘sub scheme’ within the PKVY.
India has promoted organic and natural farming as part of an effort to support minor farmers and make farming more climate-friendly, according to news agency Reuters.
A parliamentary response provided earlier this year by Munda’s predecessor as agriculture minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, said that Haryana had been allocated Rs 20.5 lakh under the PKVY between 2020 and 2022, but that it ultimately received Rs 5.05 lakh.
Gujarat was allocated Rs 41.01 lakh under the scheme in that time period but received Rs 10.10 lakh. It did not spend this amount.
Tomar’s response also provided the number of farmers across many states and Union territories who benefited from the PKVY between 2019 and 2022. However, Gujarat was missing from this list.
“Funds could not be released to remaining states due to slow progress of the implementation/non-utilisation of funds,” his response read.
Gujarat did receive Rs 1.87 crore under the scheme during the financial year 2023-24, a different response by Munda from earlier this month said.
