Beej Gram Yojana- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Beej Gram Yojana- Context
- Recently, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released various implantation details of the Beej Gram Yojana in the Lok Sabha.
Women in Agriculture in India: Gender Mainstreaming in Agriculture
Beej Gram Yojana- Key Points
- About: Seed Village Program (Beej Gram Yojana) is being implemented by the government since 2014-15 to upgrade the quality of farmers’ saved seeds.
- Key Objective: To upgrade the quality of farmer-saved seed, which is about 80-85% of the total seed used for crop production. Key Objectives of the Seed Village Program are-
- Increasing the seed production,
- Increasing the seed replacement rate,
- Organizing seed production in cluster/compact areas, replacing existing local varieties with new high yielding varieties,
- Self-sufficiency and self-reliance of the village in terms of quality seed production
- To meet the local demand and timely supply of quality seeds.
- Funding: Under Seed Village Program, financial assistance for distribution of foundation/certified seeds at 50% of seed cost for cereal crops and 60% for pulses, oilseeds, fodder and green manure crops is available for up to one acre per farmer.
COP 26: Sustainable Agriculture
Beej Gram Yojana- Implementation of the Scheme
- Implementation: Union Government organizes Zonal Seed Review Meeting twice a year before the onset of each sowing season (Kharif & Rabi).
- Department of Agriculture of different States/UTs, National & State Level Seed Producing Agencies, Seed Certification Agencies are called to assess the requirement and availability of seed across the country prior to every season.
- This is done to ensure the timely availability of seed to farmers.
- Implementing Agencies: One implementing agency will be identified for the area/locality and is to be authorized by the State Government. Implementing agencies will be-
- State Departments of Agriculture,
- State Agriculture Universities,
- Krishi Vigyan Kendras,
- State Seeds Corporation,
- National Seeds Corporation,
- State Farms Corporation of India (SFCI),
- State Seeds Certification Agencies,
- Department of Seed Certification.
- Monitoring of the Beej Gram Yojana: The Seed Village Program will be monitored by the Seeds Division of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
- The implementing agencies will be required to send quarterly progress to the Seeds Division of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.
Global Agricultural Productivity Report 2021