The Centre has approved the formation of 40 FPOs (farmer producer organisations) in the bamboo sector to encourage small and marginal farmers to take up bamboo plantations inAssam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
In a reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has approved the formation of 40 FPOs for the bamboo sector with a view to encourage small and marginal farmers by taking up bamboo plantation and linking the farmers with the market value chain.
Of the 40 FPOs, 18 have been allocated to Assam, 13 to Maharashtra, six to Madhya Pradesh and three to Odisha.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has been designated as the implementing agency for 29 FPOs in these four States. NAFED has been assigned as the implementing agency for 13 FPOs Assam, seven in Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh, and three in Odisha.
The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) has been designated as the implementing agency for five FPOs in Assam, and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has been designated as the implementing agency for six FPOs in Maharashtra.
To promote the use of bamboo in modern constructions, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has included certain bamboo products in the Delhi Schedule of Rates (SoRs).
The minister said the State bamboo missions conduct exhibitions and awareness campaigns from time to time for promoting bamboo products, including bamboo-based construction materials and structures. Besides this, the Union Ministry of Tourism had issued an advisory for the promotion of bamboo mat-based products in construction activities. The Central government has requested the States and Union Territories to increase the use of bamboo-based construction materials and technologies in the construction works of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (Gramin), he said.
Kisan rail
To a separate query on ‘Kisan Rail’, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Railway Minister, said ‘Kisan Rail’ services have operated on 159 routes since the launch of the service on August 7, 2020, and up to February 4, covering Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Major loading stations for ‘Kisan Rail’ services are Devlali, Sangola, Savda, Raver, Nagarsol, Yeola, Dahanu Road, Lingampet Jagityal, Farukkabad, Indore, Kherwadi, Lasalgaon, Niphad, Nuzvid and Vizianagram; and major unloading locations are Agartala, Adarshnagar (Delhi), Changsari, Chitpur, Fatuha, Malda Town, Gour Malda, New Jalpaiguri, New Guwahati, Muzaffarpur, Jorhat and Shalimar.
Potential circuits for movement of ‘Kisan Rail’ services are identified in consultation with the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Fisheries departments of state governments as well as local bodies and agencies, mandis etc., the minister said.
Organic cotton
To a query on the production of organic cotton in the country, Darshana Jardosh, Union Minister of State for Textiles, said the production of organic cotton has gone up to 8,10,934 tonnes in 2020-21 against 3,12,876 tonnes in 2019-20. The production was at 1,54,966 tonnes during 2016-17.
The minister also said that ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research is doing research for the development and refinement of technology for production of organic cotton in the country.
Rice fortification
To a question on the pilot project on fortification of rice and its distribution under the PDS (public distribution system), Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, said 3.64 lakh tonnes of fortified rice has been distributed under the pilot scheme in the country.
He said the Government had approved the Centrally sponsored pilot scheme on ‘Fortification of rice and its distribution under PDS’ for a period of three years beginning in 2019-20 with total outlay of ₹174.64 crore.
The pilot scheme focuses on 15 districts across 15 States, preferably one district per state. Of the 15 states which consented for the pilot scheme, 11 States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand — have reported distribution of fortified rice in their identified districts under the pilot scheme, the minister said.