NITI Aayog plan to double farm income; to focus on irrigation, seeds

Availability of quality seed should increase by over 167% to around 8-million tonnes

Irrigated farmland in the country must increase by 19 per cent and availability of quality seeds by 167 per cent if the Centre wants to double farmers’ real income by 2022-23, according to a plan devised by NITI Aayog.

The base year for this calculation is 2015-16. 

The plan, which comprises physical targets to be attained along with policy interventions, is likely to be shared with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the coming weeks. It could also be put in the public domain as a discussion paper.

The plan says unless efficiency is achieved, the Centre will need to