1. Genesis

Farm Sector Policy Department (FSPD) is carved out of the erstwhile Development Policy Department with primary focus on formulation of appropriate policies concerning agriculture and allied sector activities, natural resources management, climate change, etc., within the overall policy frame work of Government of India. The important objectives of the Department encompass drawing appropriate operational guidelines for implementation of such policies through credit, promotional and developmental interventions. The Department also experiments with pilots for testing new ideas, technologies and models. On being successful, such pilots are upscaled through replication in other areas/region of country.

2. Core functions of the Department

 

A. Policy, Digitization and Risk Management 

 

• Formulating policies in alignment with Government policies and programmes on Climate Change, Agriculture and Agriculture Risk Mitigation, Farmers Club, Environmental, Social and Gender Issues.
• Review and revision of existing policies concerning development of agriculture and allied sector 
• Framing of appropriate operational guidelines for implementation of such policies through credit, promotional and developmental interventions
• Development of risk screening tools, checklists, manuals, training and capacity building.
• Performing appraisal of environmental and social risk and analyzing the Social Cost Benefit of proposal posing to Adaptation Fund, Green Climate Fund and National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change.  
• Digitization pertaining to different programmes’/ products’ data.
• Collaborating with development institutions of relevance.

B. Climate Change 

 

• Under 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
• NABARD in the capacity of National Implementing Entity (NIE) for three important funding arrangements viz., Adaptation Fund (AF), National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) aims to channelize national, international and private finances for adaptation and mitigation activities in India
• NABARD performs a role in facilitating identification of project ideas/concepts based on State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) and its implementation with an objective to promote climate resilient development
• Capacity building and sensitization of stakeholders including State Governments, institution’s own staff and partner institutions on climate finance and accessing resources from National and International funding mechanisms

C. Corporate Social responsibility & Technical Advisory Group

 

• To provide an opportunity for corporates to utilize their CSR allocations in an effective and transparent manner as per Schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013
• To leverage CSR spends of corporates for the development of agriculture and rural sectors
• To provide technical inputs in the areas of agriculture and allied sectors

3. Broad Achievements of the Department at a national level:

 (As on 30th September 2016)

A. Climate Change

 

• Under Adaptation Fund (AF), six projects have been approved with a total outlay of US$9.8 million, benefitting 57,802 vulnerable people  in six States, thereby exhausting the country cap of USD 10.0 million fixed by Adaptation Fund Board on an interim basis
• NABARD was accredited as National Implementing Entity (NIE) in the 10th Board meeting of GCF in July 2015 and is the only NIE in India for the Fund. NABARD is eligible to submit large size projects having outlay of more than USD 250 million. Under GCF, two proposals from the states viz., Haryana and Odisha have been endorsed by the Empowered Committee of Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
• Under NAFCC, twelve projects with an assistance of Rs.235.19 crore (USD 35.35 million) were sanctioned, which would benefit around 9.68 lakh vulnerable population in 12 States viz. Punjab, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, J&K, Meghalaya, Puducherry and Telangana.
• NABARD signed grant-based agreements with KfW (10 million Euro) and GIZ (5 million Euro) for the implementation of two projects on “Rehabilitation of Degraded Soils”. The KfW assisted projects will be implemented in the States of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha whereas GIZ assistance will be for projects in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
• During the year 2015-16, the department conducted the following:

B. Umbrella Programme for Natural Resource Management (UPNRM)

 

• Far Reaching: Cumulatively 315 projects have been sanctioned under UPNRM covering 21 states and one union territory of India with total financial assistance of Rs.617.01 crores with loan of Rs. 578.00 crores and grants of Rs.38.08 crores. Cumulative disbursement stands at Rs.389.80 crores with loan of Rs.366.84 crores and grants of Rs.22.96 crores
• Pro-poor: There has been a near threefold (175%) increase in mean income in all interventions which have been implemented under UPNRM 
• Environmentally sustainable: Project interventions have substituted chemical fertilizers and fostered green farming on approximately 3,000 hectares of land. UPNRM interventions have facilitated production of around 16,000 tons of organic manure and fostered 3,000 hectares of green farming
• Gender friendly and inclusive: 45% of all project participants are women and around 80% are from scheduled castes and tribes and other backward castes
• Climate friendly: Agro forestry projects in Odisha registered as Clean Development Mechanism project (CDM) and assisting in carbon sequestration to the tune of 33,400 annually. 1,229 biogas plants set up saving 12,500 trees.
• Water efficient: System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and drip irrigation systems have saved 96 m.m3 of water, 13,000 t of CO2 mitigated

C. Policy, Digitization and Risk Management

 

• Issue guidelines for ensuring implementation of environmental, social and gender Policy of NABARD and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana .
• Completed digitization of 2865 Farmers Clubs and 22754 Members of Farmers Clubs under pilot phase in 17 districts of Seven States.

D. Corporate Social responsibility & Technical Advisory Group

 

• Central Technical Advisory Group (C-TAG) has been constituted at Head Office under eleven disciplines
• Regional Technical Advisory Groups (R-TAG) has been constituted at 10 major ROs by pooling the resources available at these regions
• To cater to the needs of the Regional Offices, 30 corporates are collaborating with NABARD with 134 projects with an outlay of Rs. 18,719 lakh, spread across various States

4.  Ongoing Projects and Schemes: 

 

• Under Adaptation Fund, five projects are under implementation in the states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu & Rajasthan
• Under National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), twelve projects from the states viz. Punjab, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, J&K, Meghalaya, Puducherry and Telangana are under implementation
• Out of total 315 projects sanctioned under UPNRM, 198 are ongoing projects

 

 

Contact Information:

 

Shri Shankar A Pande