1. Genesis

The Farm Sector Development Department (FSDD) was created out of NABARD’s erstwhile Development Policy Department - Farm Sector.

The objective of the department is to formulate policies and implement multifarious farm sector initiatives under various programmes aimed at:

• Conserving and managing natural resources
• Accelerating ground level credit flow by rural financial institutions
• Promoting incremental agricultural production and productivity
• Generating rural employment
• Raising the standard of living of rural poor through credit and grant
• Formulating appropriate policies concerning agriculture and allied sector activities, natural resource management, climate change adaptation and mitigation etc., within the overall policy framework of Government of India
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation

FSDD manages the following funds

• Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF)
• Watershed Development Fund (WDF)
• Tribal Development Fund (TDF)
• Producers Organization Development Fund (PODF)
• ‘Producers’ Organization Development and Upliftment Corpus’ (PRODUCE) Fund
• Central Sector Scheme for Promotion and Nurturing of Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs)
• Climate Change Fund (CCF)

In addition to above funds, NABARD is also the National Implementing Entity (NIE) of Adaptation Fund (AF) and National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) and Direct Access Entity (DAE) of Green Climate Fund (GCF).

2. Core functions of the department

a. Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF)

Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF) was created in NABARD by merging two erstwhile funds, viz. Farm Innovation and Promotion Fund (FIPF) and Farmers' Technology Transfer Fund (FTTF), on July 26, 2014. The Fund focusses on promoting innovative and feasible concepts/projects and transfer of technology for enhancing production and productivity in agriculture and allied sectors.

b. Watershed Development Fund (WDF)

NABARD has been implementing watershed development projects since the inception of Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (IGWDP) in India during 1990s. The participatory watershed development concept and methodology has proved to be a successful initiative in enhancing the productivity, production, and improving livelihood security of rural community.

To replicate the initiatives further in the drought prone areas of the country, the Union Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 1999-2000 had announced creation of a Watershed Development Fund (WDF) in NABARD. Hence, Watershed Development Fund (WDF) was set up in NABARD in 1999-2000 with an initial corpus of Rs. 200 crore contributed by GoI and NABARD in equal proportion.

c. Tribal Development Fund (TDF)

NABARD has been supporting tribal development through concessional rates of refinance, through a separate line of credit to agencies supporting tribal families, promotional activities, etc. However, a key concern for NABARD has been the sustainability of tribal livelihoods.

Based on the successful experience of Adivasi Development Programmes, NABARD embarked upon an ambitious programme of replicating the wadi (a small orchard of one or two acre with multiple crops) model across the country. In this direction, Tribal Development Fund (TDF) was created by NABARD with initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore, out of its profits for the year 2003-04. The Fund has grown over the years and the credit balance as on December 31, 2022 was Rs 1,290 crore with total committed sanction of Rs 700 crore. The projects under TDF are implemented by collaborating with State Governments, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), NGOs and corporates. A comprehensive tribal development programme having wadi (small orchard) as the core component is being implemented for improving the livelihood of tribal population. Over the years, livelihood interventions with non-wadi activities viz. animal husbandry, sericulture, lac, NTFP etc. have also been included to cover landless tribal families.

d. Promotion of Farmer Producer Organisations

Farmer Producer Organisation (PO) is a legal entity formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen, etc. Producer Organisations have been considered to be one of the effective means of linking small producers with the agricultural value chain for the purpose of enhancing net income of producers. NABARD provides financial and development support to FPOs through the following programmes:

i. Producers Organisation Development Fund (PODF)

Recognising the strength of POs, NABARD created a dedicated fund “Producers, Organisation Development Fund (PODF)” during 2011, to support these organisations on three levers i.e. credit facilitation, capacity building and market linkage support. In addition, grant support is also made available for business incubation services, skill building, documentation of successful models, ICT application in business management, etc.
NABARD has also introduced a new scheme i.e. Producers’ Organization Development Fund – Interest Differential (PODF-ID) as the corpus has been augmented by way of appropriation of interest differential out of RIDF, for the promotion and nurturing of 3,000 FPOs.

ii. ‘Producers’ Organization Development and Upliftment Corpus’ (PRODUCE) Fund

PRODUCE Fund of Rs 200 crores was created by the Government of India in NABARD in 2014-15 for building 2,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) in the country. The aim of the PRODUCE Fund is to promote new FPOs and support their initial financial requirements, to make them credit worthy, commercially vibrant and sustainable business enterprise of farmers.

iii. Central Sector Scheme for Promotion and Nurturing of Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs)

The GoI has announced Central Sector Scheme on Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPO and NABARD is one of the Implementing Agencies. The aim of the scheme is to promote new FPOs and support their initial financial requirements to make them credit worthy, commercially vibrant, and as a sustainable business enterprise for farmers. BIRD, Lucknow as Nodal Training Institute for the scheme A Credit Guarantee Fund of Rs 1,000 crore with equal contribution from GoI and NABARD has been set up under NABSANRAKSHAN, a subsidiary of NABARD.

f. Climate Change actions

• i. Under its Climate Change agenda, NABARD aims to address the challenges posed by climate change, particularly in the areas of agriculture and rural livelihood sectors in India.
• ii. NABARD, in the capacity of National Implementing Entity (NIE) of Adaptation Fund (AF) and National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) and Direct Access Entity (DAE) of Green Climate Fund (GCF), aims to channelise national, international and private finances for adaptation and mitigation activities in India.
• iii. NABARD facilitates identification of project ideas/concepts based on State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) and its implementation with an objective to promote climate resilient and sustainable development.
• iv. Capacity building and sensitisation of stakeholders including State Governments, institution’s own staff and partner institutions on climate finance and accessing resources from National and International funding mechanisms.

3. Broad achievements of the Department (As on March 31, 2021)

a. Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF)

During 2022-23, as on 31st December 2022, an amount of Rs.13.22 crore has been disbursed with cumulative grant disbursement of Rs. 202 crore under FSPF since inception for various promotional initiatives in agriculture such as innovative projects in agriculture and allied sectors, enhancing agriculture productivity and income of the farmers, creating market access, promotion of climate resilient agriculture in vulnerable / distressed districts, agricultural value chains, Farmers’ Clubs and their collectives including training and capacity building of farmers, etc.

As on 31.12.2022, 437 are projects are ongoing under Detailed Project Report (DPR) mode, involving a grant commitment of Rs.56.10 crore. During 2022-23, an amount of Rs. 9.13 crore has been disbursed towards implementation of these projects.

The projects were sanctioned for demonstration of innovative technologies in the areas of cultivation of vegetable, fruits and flowers, Integrated Farming System, horticulture technology, animal husbandry, agri value chain development, Zero Budget Natural farming, IOT in agriculture, Integrated Livestock Development Centre, Agri-Export Facilitation Centre etc.

Since the inception of fund, 2200 exposure visits were supported so far to build the capacity of around 67000 farmers in collaboration with select Research Institutes like KVKs, SAUs, ICAR and ICRISAT, etc for adopting new/ innovative methods of farming. The areas covered under the exposure visits were agri-extension services, dairy farming, integrated farming methods, organic farming, new agriculture technologies etc. During 2022-23, as on 31st December 2022, an amount of Rs.2.36 crore has been disbursed under Capacity Building for Adoption of Technology (CAT).

b. Watershed Development Fund (WDF)

NABARD entered into watershed development activities through KfW-assisted Indo German Watershed Development Programme in the year 1992 in Maharashtra, wherein participatory approach of watershed development was launched in India on pilot basis for the first time. Subsequently, in order to demonstrate effectiveness of these interventions, Watershed Development Fund (WDF) was set up in NABARD in 1999-2000 with an initial corpus of Rs. 200 crore contributed by GoI and NABARD in equal proportion. The fund has been augmented over the years from the interest differential earned under RIDF and interest accrued on the unutilized portion of the Fund.

As on 31st March 2022, cumulative sanction under all programmes stood Rs. 2589.26 crore, covering an area of 25.65 lakh ha. An amount of Rs. 2014.28 crore has been released so far, against 3557 projects sanctioned, 2546 projects have been completed successfully.

The programme- wise details are given as under:

Currently, the following Watershed Development Programmes are being implemented by NABARD:

• Participatory Watershed Development Programme under Watershed Development Fund (WDF)
• Climate Proofing of Watersheds under WDF Programme
• Springshed-based Development Projects
• Soil and water conservation promotional measures and other farming practices in the dryland/ watershed areas on non- watershed basis
• Reclamation of saline & alkaline soils
• Integrated Water Management Scheme
• Sustainable Development Plan
• Soil Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils for Food Security (Climate Proofing Soil Project) through KfW, Germany - KfW Climate Proofing
• Web-based monitoring of watershed projects

As on 31st December 2022, we have sanctioned 32 new projects and disbursed an amount of Rs. 52.94 crore.

i. Participatory Watershed Development Programme

Participatory watershed development programmes are implemented in two phases – (i) Capacity Building Phase (CBP) and (ii) Full Implementation Phase (FIP) in participatory mode, with the active involvement of Village Watershed Committees (VWCs) and Project Facilitating Agency (PFA). The projects are being implemented in 20 states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

As on 31st March 2022, 113 WDF projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 947.16 crore, against which an amount of Rs. 555.58 crore has been disbursed.

ii. Climate-proofing in watershed projects

To reduce vulnerability of climate change in rainfed areas and enhance agriculture productivity, production, livelihood and income of the farmers, NABARD is implementing climate change adaptation initiatives in its watershed projects under WDF in Eleven states (Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand). These projects are planned and designed based on the climate change vulnerability assessment in various sectors of agri & allied activities by the watershed communities. Based on the vulnerability of the sectors and the community to climate change impact, the project interventions are identified by the watershed communities and implemented with financial support from NABARD under WDF. As on 31st March 2022, 188 climate proofing projects were sanctioned with a financial commitment of Rs. 95.32 crore of which Rs. 77.63 crore released.

iii. Springshed Development Watershed Development Programme

Due to adverse impact of climate change in recent years, the springs, which are lifeline of the North Eastern Region (NER), are getting dried up affecting agriculture and livelihood of rural community. In order to revive and rejuvenate these springs and minimize the adverse impact of climate change on water availability both for human consumption and irrigation, especially during off-season, NABARD has launched an innovative and integrated springshed-based participatory watershed development programme in the NER, including Sikkim, on a pilot basis with financial support under WDF since January 2017. Now, these projects are extended to fifteen states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand). As on 31st March 2022, 113 springshed development projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 23.68 crore, against which Rs. 11.64 crore has been disbursed.

iv. Soil and water conservation promotional measures and other farming practices in the dryland/ watershed areas on non- watershed basis

WDF corpus used towards capacity building, awareness creation through campaign mode, etc., as part of developmental and promotional interventions under NRM sector along with implementation of location specific activities relating to soil and water conservation, technology transfer- demonstration of climate resilient and climate smart agriculture, promotion of organic farming, vermi-composting, apiculture, mushroom cultivation, sericulture, etc. in rural areas. The activities can be implemented on project /programme mode as well as non- project mode in the rainfed/dryland areas/ completed watershed projects under central/state/NABARD assisted programmes. As on 31st March 2022, 4 projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 1.09 crore, against which Rs. 0.33 crore has been disbursed.

v. Pilot projects on reclamation of Saline & Alkaline soils through rain water management with watershed/landscape approach in Punjab & Haryana

Indiscriminate use of agri-inputs especially water and fertilizer, during Post- Green Revolution has resulted in severe land degradation leading to formation of saline and alkaline soils in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. In order to demonstrate long-term sustainability of saline and alkaline soil through participatory approach, pilot projects on reclamation of saline and alkaline soils through rainwater management with watershed/ landscape approach are being implemented in Punjab and Haryana. It covers an area of 3000 ha (2000 ha for reclamation of alkaline soils and 1000 ha for reclamation of saline soils) with financial outlay of Rs.20.38 crore. Based on MoU executed during December 2019 with ICAR- Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal, it has been extending technical support in implementation of the programme. As on 31st March 2022, 4 pilot projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 7.49 crore, against which Rs. 1.37 crore has been disbursed.

vi. Integrated Water Management Scheme (IWMS)

NABARD has conducted Water Conservation Campaign across 250 districts with focus on promoting efficient water conservation/management technologies and other water-smart practices in agriculture during 2017. In order to consolidate the outcomes of water conservation campaign and to carry forward the water conservation agenda more aggressively for mitigating the water scarcity situation and improving agricultural productivity in select vulnerable villagers, NABARD came up with Integrated Water Management Scheme (IWMS) through watershed approach for implementation across 50 districts, including 40 aspirational districts of the country, covering 250 villages across 20 states. As on 31st March 2022, 210 projects (each project covering a cluster of 5 villages) have been sanctioned with total financial outlay of Rs. 28.19 crore of which Rs. 25.89 crore released.

vii. Sustainable Development Plan (SDP)

Building on the success of the initial watershed programmes, NABARD has reoriented its approach towards sustainable development of watersheds by making the programme much more holistic. The approach includes technology transfer, agriculture extension, credit intensification, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), promotion of Farmers’ Producer Organizations (FPOs), etc. Need- based capacity building and leadership development of the watershed community and convergence of various centrally sponsored schemes/ programmes also form part of the Sustainable Development Plan. As on 31st March 2022, 466 SDPs have been sanctioned, with total financial outlay of Rs.45.17 crore of which Rs. 42.58 crore has been released.

viii. Soil Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils for Food Security (Climate Proofing Soil Project) through KfW, Germany

The soil restoration programme for sustainable food security aimed to address the issues of soil and water conversation, land reclamation, improving soil productivity and health, enhancing crop resilience to climate change, enhancing opportunities for livelihood and income generation for communities vulnerable to climate change, etc. in completed watershed projects area. The soil restoration programme for sustainable food security (Phase I) has been implemented by NABARD in five states namely, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh with a grant support of €10 million (Rs.70 crore) from KfW, Germany over a period of four years from December 2015 to December 2020. It covers 32 districts and 123 completed watershed projects under WDF in the select states. The districts within the identified states were selected based on the Rainfed Area Priority Index (RAPI) developed by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA, Hyderabad) and Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI). As on 31st March 2022, implementation of 123 projects were completed with financial commitment of Rs. 60.11 crore, of which an amount of Rs. 59.82 crore has been disbursed.

Implementation of KfW Soil Project Phase- II was started in January 2019 in 2 states viz. Kerala and Jharkhand, in 55 projects with financial support of € 5 million (Rs.35 crore) from KfW from KfW over the period of four years. As on 31st March 2022, 55 projects were under implementation with financial commitment of Rs. 31.46 crore, of which an amount of Rs. 25.02 crore has been disbursed.

Based on the experience of SEWOH Phase- I & II, KfW soil projects has been extended to Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in 48 WDF projects. The programme is being implemented from October 2020 with financial support of € 4.5 million from KfW over the period of four years. As on 31st March 2022, 55 projects were under implementation with financial commitment of Rs.27.95 crore, of which an amount of Rs.7.50 crore has been disbursed.

ix. Web-based monitoring of watershed projects

NABARD had signed a MoU with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad for the monitoring of watershed projects by leveraging geospatial technologies. Under this initiative, a web portal and mobile app have been developed for uploading the data by Project Facilitating Agencies (PFAs). The portal is facilitating NABARD in real time tracking of physical and financial progress and impact evaluation (change detection) of watershed projects (‘pre’ and ‘post’ stages) through analysis of satellite images, generation of MIS reports on real time basis and mapping as well as geo-tagging of assets created in the project areas through mobile app. As on 31st March 2022, a total of 901 projects were digitised with 57,871 assets geotagged and 129 impact evaluation studies were conducted.

c. Tribal Development Fund (TDF)

As on 31 December 2022:

• Total number of projects sanctioned: 905
• No. of states and union territories covered under the programme: 29
• Number of tribal families benefitted: 5,86,391
• Total financial assistance sanctioned from TDF: Rs.2,556.11 crore
• Total financial assistance disbursed: Rs.1,856.28 crore

State-wise details:

State-wise cumulative status of TDF projects as on December 31 2022 is given below:

d. Promotion and Development of Farmer Producer Organizations

NABARD has developed a portal named ‘NABFPO.IN’ and digitised the FPO data including members’ profiles for use by the stakeholders. Broad details of FPOs are available on NABARD website (www.nabard.org).

Performance Measurement Tool has been developed for the assessment and monitoring of overall performance and facilitating designing of need based interventions and credit linkages for building robust organisation.

To increase the credit flow and to make the banks aware about the type of credit needs of FPOs, NABARD has developed guidance note on financing FPOs by Banks.

e. Climate Change - projects

Adaptation Fund: Under Adaptation Fund (AF), six concrete adaptation projects were approved by AFB with a total outlay of USD 9.8 million, benefitting 57,802 vulnerable people in six States viz. West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, thereby exhausted the country cap of USD 10.0 million fixed by Adaptation Fund Board on an interim basis. The projects are in different stages of implementation.

Projects details are available at: Click Here

Green Climate Fund: NABARD was accredited as Direct Access Entity (DAE) in the 10th Board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in July 2015 and reaccredited during on October 2022. NABARD is eligible to submit large size projects having outlay of more than USD 250 million. Under GCF, two proposals submitted by NABARD were sanctioned by GCF Board.

The details of the projects are as under:

Additional projects details are available at: Click here

National Adaptation Fund For Climate Change: Under National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), 30 projects with total grant assistance of Rs.847.47 cr. were sanctioned to 25 States (viz. Punjab, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Maharasthra, Gujarat, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh and two UTs viz. Puducherry & Jammu. The implementation of NAFCC projects would address climate change related impact on major sectors like water management, agriculture, livestock, coastal and forest eco-system. Apart from 27 state/ UT specific -projects, two multi-state projects were also sanctioned. One Regional Project on ‘Climate Resilience Building in Rural Areas through Crop Residue Management” with aggregate grant assistance of Rs.120.66 cr. was sanctioned for implementation in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan states. Second, Another multi-state project on ‘Restoration of degraded landscapes to natural state of ecosystem for climate resilience and livelihood improvement of vulnerable communities’ with grant assistance of Rs.126.10 crore is being implemented in Rajasthan, Telangana and Maharashtra States.

Projects Details are available at: Click here

Climate Change Fund: Climate Change Fund (CCF) was set up in the year 2015-16 with the outlay of Rs 5 crore from out of profit of NABARD. The Fund is being used for promoting and supporting activities relating to Climate Change. Various interventions that would further NABARD’s interest in the areas of climate change adaptation and mitigation will receive priority under the fund. The cumulative disbursement during the FY 2021-22 stood at Rs. 1.74 Crore from the CCF.

Centre for Climate Change: The Centre for Climate Change setup by NABARD was formally inaugurated on July 20, 2018 at BIRD, Lucknow. The objectives of the Centre are to address capacity building needs of the stakeholders concerned, policy advocacy, promoting national and international collaboration by bringing in the knowledge, technology and finance for addressing the climate change related challenges and harnessing the opportunities emerging from climate change, particularly in rural areas and for vulnerable communities.

Contact Information

Shri C.S.R.Murthy
Chief General Manager
NABARD, Head Office
5th Floor, ‘A’ Wing
Plot: C-24, 'G' Block
Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East)
Mumbai - 400 051
Tel. : (+91) 022 - 26539882
E-mail Address: fsdd@nabard.org , csr.murthy@nabard.org

Information under RTI – Section 4(1)(b)