FSDD has been carved out of the erstwhile Development Policy Department - Farm Sector. The Department's core function is implementation of various farm sector initiatives aimed at conservation and management of natural resources, creating credit absorption capacity of farmers for accelerating ground level credit flow by the rural financial institutions, enhancing agricultural production and productivity by way of promoting modern farming technologies, good agricultural practices and skill building of farmers, generating rural employment and raising the standard of living of rural poor and enhancing farmers’ income through nurturing and supporting farmers’ collectives.
Effective implementation of the above programmes, which have evolved over a period through various policy initiatives and initiating other measures, required for addressing climate-related issues, risk mitigation, promoting climate smart/ hi-tech agriculture, crop diversification and enhancing of farmers’ income, promoting and nurturing farmers’ collectives, etc., are some of the important responsibilities assigned to the Department. Further, addressing the operational issues emerging during implementing, monitoring the programmes, documenting successful models/ practices for scaling up and providing feedback for policy framing/ improvement, are a part of the task assigned to the Department. The important portfolios handled by FSDD, are grouped under four verticals, as furnished below:
A. Farm Sector Promotional Fund
Farm Sector Promotion Fund (FSPF) was created in NABARD by the merger of two erstwhile funds, viz. Farm Innovation and Promotion Fund (FIPF) and Farmers' Technology Transfer Fund (FTTF) on 26 July 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 and increasing farmers’ income.
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B. Watershed Development Programme
The Union Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 1999-2000, had announced the creation of a Watershed Development Fund (WDF) in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with broad objectives of unification of multiplicity of watershed development programmes into a single national initiative through involvement of village level institutions and Project Facilitating Agencies (PFAs).
In pursuance thereof, WDF has been created in NABARD with a contribution of Rs. 100 crore each by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India (GoI) and NABARD.
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C. Tribal Development Fund
NABARD has been closely associated with tribal development and sustainable livelihoods through orchard based farming systems. As an integral component of NABARD’s Natural Resource Management (NRM) policy of providing sustainable livelihoods, NABARD laid special emphasis on providing support for holistic development of tribal communities with orchard establishment as the core element.
Based on the successful experience of Adivasi Development Programmes, NABARD embarked upon an ambitious program of replicating the wadi model across the country. In this direction, NABARD created a Tribal Development Fund (TDF) with a corpus of Rs. 50 crore, out of its profits for 2003-04. The corpus is augmented from time to time. All projects under TDF are implemented by partnering with State Governments, Government of India, NGOs and Corporates.
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D. Producers Organisation Development Fund (PODF)
NABARD has taken an initiative for supporting producer organizations (POs), adopting a flexible approach to meet the needs of producers. In order to give a special focus, “Producers Organization Development Fund” (PODF) has been set up w.e.f. 01 April 2011, with an initial corpus of Rs. 50 crore.
Support under PODF is provided as under:
- Loan-linked grant support is available to the FPOs for promotion, capacity building & market interventions.
- Grant assistance to eligible agencies for conducting Special Studies, Stakeholders’ Meeting/ Conference, Round Table Discussions, building specialized capacities for existing POs, ICT interventions for improving marketing/ operational efficiency and such other critical interventions necessary for building sustainable POs is also available, without linking to availing institutional loan.
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E. Climate Change
Climate change has become real and tangible, affecting people’s lives worldwide. It is a major challenge for agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods. As indicated in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Fifth Assessment Report released in March 2014, poor, marginalized, and rural communities are likely to be hit hardest by climate change impacts. For these vulnerable groups, climate change acts as a “risk multiplier” worsening existing social, economic, political, and environmental stresses.
The impacts of climate change are global, but countries like India are more vulnerable in view of the high population depending on agriculture, which in turn is dependent on the seasonal monsoons. India is confronted with the challenge of sustaining rapid economic growth amidst the increasing global threat of climate change. India has already shown its commitment to help address the global climate challenge and Government of India has accorded top priority for addressing climate change related concerns.
The Government formulated the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on June, 2008 that established 8 National Missions to reduce the vulnerability to the impacts of climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures. On the basis of NAPCC, State Governments and Union Territories have prepared State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC).
Climate change is a complex policy issue with major implications in terms of finance. All actions and solutions to address the adverse impact of climate change ultimately involve costs. Funding is vital in developing countries to design and implement adaptation and mitigation projects.
NABARD has already taken various initiatives in addressing the challenges posed by Climate Change particularly in the areas of agriculture and rural livelihood sectors. In this direction NABARD aims to channelize national, international and private finances for adaptation and mitigation activities in India. NABARD in the capacity of Direct Access Entity and National Implementing Entity is implementing projects various climate change projects across India under various funds such as