The agriculture ministry in a statement said, “Under CDP, tobacco-growing states have been given the flexibility to take suitable activities or interventions to shift from tobacco crops to alternative agricultural or horticultural crops.”
New Delhi: A total of 1,11,889 acre land used to produce tobacco was converted to grow alternative crops in the last five years since 2017, said Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) has been implementing Crop Diversification Programme (CDP), a sub-scheme of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), in 10 tobacco-growing states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to encourage farmers to shift to alternative crops or cropping system since 2015-16.
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare in a statement said, “Under CDP, tobacco-growing states have been given the flexibility to take suitable activities or interventions to shift from tobacco crops to alternative agricultural or horticultural crops.”
For implementation of the scheme in the 10 tobacco growing states, the central share of Rs 667 lakh, Rs 667 lakh, Rs 667 lakh, Rs 1,000 lakh and Rs 1,000 lakh were allocated during the years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively, the ministry said.
“In addition to CDP, the Government of India is also providing flexibility to the states for state specific needs or priorities under RKVY and the states can promote crop diversification under RKVY with the approval of State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) headed by Chief Secretary of the respective states,” the ministry further said.
The DA&FW also implements various crop development programmes such as the National Food Security Mission on Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Nutri Cereals, Coarse Cereals, Oilseeds and Commercial Crops (Cotton, Jute & Sugarcane), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) etc. for promotion of agricultural or horticultural crops.
