Dedicated Fund For Micro Irrigation

The government has approved a dedicated Rs 5,000 crore fund to bring more land area under micro-irrigation. This dedicated will come handy in enhancing agricultural productivity and thereby will aid in increasing of farmers income.

Components of the new fund:

• Micro-irrigation coverage is 10 million hectares as against the potential of 70 million hectares. The dedicated fund will aid in realizing the potential by channeling the loans to states through NABARD.
• The micro irrigation fund (MIF) will aid in augmenting the efforts under Pradhan Mantri krishi sinchayee Yojana which aims at increasing the percentage of land under irrigation and help bring about 10 lakh hectares under micro-irrigation.
• The loans shall be paid back in seven years including the grace period of two years. The lending rate under MIF has been proposed at 3 per cent lower than the cost of raising the fund by NABARD. This will aid states to utilise the best of the opportunity.
• The fund will aid States in mobilising resources for their initiatives to achieve the annual target of about 2 million hectares per year during the remaining period of 14thFinance Commission.
• The funds can also be accessed by Farmers Producers Organization (FPO)/Cooperatives/State Level Agencies. This can give boost to the innovative cluster based community irrigation projects.

The component of the scheme aims to increase the area under irrigation. This will come handy in increasing the productivity of the land which is vital for realsing the commitment of enhancing of farmers income by 2022. [TOI]