Promotion of best practices in farm sector is embedded in our mandate and we strive to support any interesting idea
which has a potential for upscaling. These interventions encompass accelerating flow of ground level credit,
increasing agricultural production and productivity, capacity building, rural livelihoods, etc. We have devised
various programmes to address farm sector issues such as development of Kisan Credit Card scheme, participatory
watershed development, technology transfer, capacity building for adoption of technology, farmers' club programme
etc.
We are perhaps the only institution in the country to have established and continued the tradition of building
specific funds to address various area / subject specific developmental aspirations. The Farm Sector Promotion Fund
(FSPF) facilitates transfer of technologies to boost agri-production, while the Watershed Development Fund (WDF) and
Tribal Development Fund (TDF) support flagship activities under Natural Resource Management (NRM) with an emphasis
on sustainable livelihoods.
FARM SECTOR DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT (FSDD)
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. 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.
Additional Information
B. 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 orchard development 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.
Additional Information
C. 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.
Additional Information
D. 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.
Additional Information