1. Enumerate some of the technology missions launched by Government of India and assess their impact on Indian Agriculture. What are the aims and objectives of National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET)?2014-426

Answer:

As India is agriculture based economy with huge diversity in agro-climatic zones, the major objective behind launching various technology missions is to reduce the yield gap in laboratory and on field. So through these missions farmers are demonstrated new input methods along with credit incentives to encourage them to adopt new crops and technologies.

Some of the major missions are as follows:

1. The National Food Security Mission (2007) aims to bridge the yield gap in respect of paddy, wheat, pulses, millet and fodder. The Mission is being continued during

12th Five Year Plan with new targets of additional production of food grains of 25 million tons of food grains comprising of 10 million tons rice, 8 million tons of wheat, 4 million tons of pulses and 3 million tons of coarse cereals. The ongoing Integrated Development of Pulses Villages, Promotion of Nutri-cereals and Accelerated Fodder Development Programme were also merged in this Mission.

2. National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (2013) including Micro Irrigation is being taken up as a part of the National Action Plan on climate change. The Rainfed Area Development Programme is merged in this Mission. Mission seeks to transform Indian agriculture into a climate resilient production system through suitable adaptation and mitigation measures in domains of both crops and animal husbandry.

3. The National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (2013) was aimed at increasing production and productivity of oilseeds and oil palm. This would help in enhancing production of oilseeds by 6.58 million tonnes.

4. The National Horticulture Mission (2005-06) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (Centre – 85% & State- 15%) with a view to promote holistic growth of the horticulture sector through an area based regionally differentiated strategies, which include research, technology promotion, extension, post-harvest management, processing and marketing, in consonance with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse agro-climatic feature. In addition, mission is expected to promote horticulture diversification including an initiative on saffron.

5. The food processing sector has been growing at an average rate of over 8 per cent over the past 5 years. In order to have a better outreach and to provide more flexibility to suit local needs, a new centrally sponsored scheme “National Mission on Food Processing” was launched in cooperation with the State Governments in 2012-13.

Aims and Objectives of NMAET

The mission – approved in April, 2014 – under Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) aims,

♤ To restructure & strengthen agricultural extension to enable delivery of appropriate technology and improved agronomic practices to the farmers through interactive methods of information dissemination, use of ICT, capacity building & institution strengthening;

♤ To improve reach of farm mechanization to small and marginal farmers by various means including promotion of custom hiring centers;

♤ To make available quality seeds and increase Seed Replacement Ratio and

♤ To promote Integrated Pest Management and plant protection measures.

Uniquely, Public-Private-Partnership is encouraged in the Extension and Training components of the Mission.

The main objective of the mission is to focus on adoption of appropriate technologies by farmers for improving productivity and efficiency in farm operations.