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).

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)

Rainfed areas, which account for 51% of the cultivated area, play a significant role in food production, contributing 40-45% of the total food production. To address the issues in rainfed farming, NABARD entered into watershed development space in the year 1992 through KfW assisted Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (IGWDP) in Maharashtra, wherein participatory approach of watershed development was adopted on a large scale for the first time.

Based on the success in implementation of the participatory watershed development under IGWDP, Watershed Development Fund (WDF) was set up at NABARD in 1999-2000 with an initial corpus of Rs.200 crore contributed equally by GoI and NABARD. It is augmented over the years through the interest di?erential earned under RIDF.

c. Tribal Development Fund (TDF)

Based on the successful experience of Adivasi Development Programmes, NABARD embarked upon an ambitious programme of replicating the 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 31 May, 2023 was Rs.1,258.77 crore with total committed sanction of Rs.780.21 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 small orchard as the core component is being implemented for improving the livelihood of tribal population. Over the years, livelihood interventions with non-orchard 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 act as Nodal Training Institute for the scheme of CSS on FPOs. 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) to 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. NABARD has also initiated the process of getting reaccredited as NIE with Adaptation Fund Board
• iii. Climate Change Fund, augmented out of NABARD’s own profits, supports small sized innovative projects in climate change on pilot basis, apart from supporting activities for knowledge dissemination, awareness creation activities related to climate change
• iv. 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.
• v. 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.

Broad achievements of the Department (As on 31 May, 2023)

a. Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF)

Since inception, FSPF involves various promotional initiatives 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 31st May 2023, an amount of Rs.218.60 crore has been cumulatively disbursed under FSPF.

As on 31 May 2023, 500 projects are ongoing under Detailed Project Report (DPR) mode involving grant commitment of Rs.126.56 crore and Rs.104 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, IOT, ICT, AI & ML in agriculture, promotion of cultivation of millets & pseudo millets, application of drone technology in agriculture, hydroponics technology, etc.

Since the inception of Fund, 2592 exposure visits were supported so far to build the capacity of around 77325 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. As on 31st May 2023, an amount of Rs.19.54 crore has been disbursed under Capacity Building for Adoption of Technology (CAT).

b. Watershed Development Fund

Rainfed areas, which account for 51% of the cultivated area, play a significant role in food production, contributing 40-45% of the total food production. To address the issues in rainfed farming, NABARD entered into watershed development space in the year 1992 through KfW assisted Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (IGWDP) in Maharashtra, wherein participatory approach of watershed development was adopted on a large scale for the first time. Based on the success in implementation of the participatory watershed development under IGWDP, Watershed Development Fund (WDF) was set up at NABARD in 1999-2000 with an initial corpus of Rs.200 crore contributed equally by GoI and NABARD. It is augmented over the years through the interest di?erential earned under RIDF. Cumulatively, 2684 projects have been successfully completed/closed against the sanctioned 3673 watershed development and related projects, covering an area of 26.45 lakh ha. The cumulative grant assistance committed under all programmes is Rs.2750.31 crore, out of which an amount of Rs. 2128.71 crore has been released as on 31 May 2023. As on 31 May 2023, 989 watershed development and related projects are under various stages of implementation across 28 states.

Watershed development and related projects

Under watershed development, the various sub-programmes currently under implementation are as follows:

• i. Integrated watershed development with climate proofing (including CSR collaborated projects)
• ii. Agroecology-JIVA
• iii. Climate Proofing in completed watershed projects (WDF-CP)
• iv. Springshed Development Programme in NE and hilly region.
• v. Soil and water conservation promotional measures and other farming practices in the dryland/ watershed areas on non- watershed basis.
• vi. Pilot projects on reclamation of Alkaline soils through rain water management with watershed/landscape approach in Punjab & Haryana.
• vii. Soil Restoration and Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils for Food Security (Climate Proofing Soil Project) through KfW, Germany
• viii. Web-based monitoring of watershed projects

i. Integrated watershed development with climate proofing (including CSR collaborated projects)

Integrated 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 May 2023, 1181 WDF projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 1083.91 crore, against which an amount of Rs. 631.04 crore has been disbursed.

ii. Agroecology-JIVA

JIVA, an agro-ecological transformation programme has been launched in the year 2022 to pioneer and scale up agro ecology as a strategic and transformational approach in watershed and tribal development projects, leveraging the pre-existing natural and social capital. The key aspect of such transition is effecting ‘behavioural change’ through farmer led extension. As first of its kind programme, 25 pilot projects, including watershed and tribal areas, covering five agroecological zones in vulnerable rainfed areas, across 11 states have been sanctioned. JIVA adopts natural farming as its cardinal principle, balancing ecology and economy in the rural ecosystem following a natural progression (farmer-farm-landscape). Designed in tune with FAO framework on agroecology, natural farming practices under JIVA promote diversified climate resilient crop systems (crops-livestock-trees), rejuvenation of biological processes, natural methods of pest and nutrient management and efficient management of rainfall and soil moisture. While placing soil at the heart of the system JIVA will enable local communities to protect and improve their environment and wellbeing by creating positive impacts through working in harmony with nature. Based on the success of pilot projects, they are expected to graduate to next phase i.e. upscaling and consolidation phase. Further, scaling up across Natural Resource Management projects is expected in the coming years, thus giving Agroecological orientation. As on 31st May 2023, 15 JIVA projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 4.2 crore, against which an amount of Rs. 1.77 crore has been disbursed.

iii. Climate-proofing in completed watershed projects (WDF-CP)

To reduce vulnerability of watershed community to the impact of climate change on production, productivity and livelihood of the farmers, NABARD is implementing climate change adaptation initiatives in its watershed projects under WDF in 11 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. Core interventions under the initiative include additional soil and water conservation measures in the hot spot areas, soil fertility and productivity enhancement, promoting sustainable farming practices, risk mitigation and knowledge management, etc. As on 31 May 2023, 198 climate proofing projects have been sanctioned with financial commitment of Rs. 100.58 crore of which Rs. 84.87 crore has been released across 11 states.

iv. Springshed Development Programme in NE and hilly regions

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 with financial support under WDF since January 2017. These projects are extended to 16 states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand). As on 31 May 2023, 143 springshed development projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 35.87 crore, against which Rs. 17.96 crore has been disbursed.

v. 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 May 2023, 17 projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 3.77 crore, against which Rs. 0.75 crore has been disbursed.

vi. Pilot projects on reclamation of 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 alkaline soils in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh. In order to demonstrate long-term sustainability of alkaline soil through participatory approach, pilot projects on reclamation of alkaline soil through rainwater management with watershed/ landscape approach are being implemented in Punjab and Haryanawith technical support from Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal. It covers an area of 2000 ha for reclamation of alkaline soils. Four pilot projects for Reclamation of Alkaline soils in Punjab and Haryana were grounded in the districts of Patiala and Sangrur in Punjab; and Kaithal and Karnal in Haryana. As on 31st May 2023, 4 pilot projects have been sanctioned with financial outlay of Rs. 7.49 crore, against which Rs. 6.47 crore has been disbursed.

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

NABARD, in collaboration with KfW, is implementing ‘Integration of Watershed Development for Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils and Climate Change Adaption’ project since 2017. The project was approved for support from the German Government (BMZ) under its initiative “One World- No Hunger” (SEWOH) for rehabilitation and regeneration of degraded soils, especially in areas with communities vulnerable to climate change. The project envisages strengthening the adaptive capacity of the communities in watersheds and enhancing their resilience to climate change through investments in conservation of natural resources, mainly soil.

The project is co-financed by KfW, NABARD and contribution of beneficiaries for investments at watershed level (in cash/in kind). The total grant provided by KfW under the project for three phases is € 19.5 million (Rs. 143.75 crore). The grant extended by KfW is routed through NABARD to village watershed committees and implementing agencies for implementation on ground. The project is implemented in three phases covering 226 watersheds in 10 states, of which 123 projects under Phase I are completed. SEWOH I was implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Odisha & Telangana, SEWOH II was implemented in Kerala and Jharkhand and SEWOH III in Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. As on 31 May 2023, an amount of Rs. 34.12 crore and Rs. 14.73 crore has been utilized under Phase II and Phase III respectively.

viii. 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 31 May 2023, a total of 1111 projects were digitised with 1,25,229 assets geotagged and 659 impact evaluation studies were conducted.

c. Tribal Development Fund (TDF) as on 31 May 2023

• Total number of projects sanctioned: 968
• No. of states and union territories covered under the programme: 29
• Number of tribal families benefitted: 6.09 lakh
• Total area covered: 5.71 lakh acre
• Total financial assistance sanctioned from TDF: Rs.2708.38 crore
• Total financial assistance disbursed: Rs.1928.18 crore
  • State-wise details:
  • State-wise cumulative status of TDF projects as on 31 May 2023 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 Grading 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./p>

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, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, 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 28 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 initial outlay of Rs 5.00 crore from out of profit of NABARD. In year 2019 the fund outlay was enhanced to Rs.20.00 crore. The fund is further augmented by Rs.65.36 crore by way of transfer of Interest Differential amount of RIDF, WIF and FPF generated during FY 2022-23 (net of tax). The CCF is presently 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 disbursement during the FY 2022-23 stood at Rs. 2.53 Crore under 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)