With reference to 'Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion', which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1.This initiative aims to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies, and to demonstrate value addition techniques, in an integrated manner, with cluster approach.
- 2.Poor, small, marginal and tribal farmers have larger stake in this scheme.
- 3.An important objective of the scheme is to encourage farmers of commercial crops to shift to millet cultivation by offering them free kits of critical inputs of nutrients and microirrigation equipment.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) 1 and 2 only
INSIMP was a sub-scheme of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, launched in 2011-12 with Rs 300 crore for 16 States, to demonstrate improved millet production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated way. Millets are a small-farmer crop, so statements 1 and 2 hold; nothing in the official description makes it a scheme to move commercial-crop farmers into millets.
- ✓ 1. The Ministry's operational guidelines say the scheme aims to demonstrate improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner, that technical assistants are placed in production and post-harvest clusters, and that processing and value addition are meant to create consumer demand for millet foods. UPSC's key accepts the statement.
- ✓ 2. The guidelines note that small millets are taken up by resource-poor tribal farmers in remote areas, and millets in general sustain the livelihood of over 60% of small and marginal farmers (NAAS paper). UPSC's key accepts this.
- ✗ 3. The guidelines offer free demonstration kits of nutrients and plant-protection inputs (micro-nutrients, fungicides, bio-fertilizers, DAP, urea, potash, pesticides) for farmers in the millet units, up to 2 hectares each. The kits contain no micro-irrigation equipment, and nothing in the guidelines makes it an aim to pull farmers of commercial crops into millets.
Remember · INSIMP (2011-12): a Rs 300 crore sub-scheme of RKVY in 16 States to demonstrate millet production, post-harvest and value-addition technologies, mainly benefiting small farmers.
Sources
- PIB, Ministry of Agriculture, Lok Sabha reply of 21 August 2012 (Release ID 86400) ↗ “Initiative for Nutritional Security through Intensive Millets Promotion (INSIMP) - a sub-scheme of RKVY has been launched from 2011-12 with aim to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner”
- Ministry of Agriculture, INSIMP Operational Guidelines (aims and value addition; Internet Archive copy of agricoop.gov.in) ↗ “The scheme aims to demonstrate the improved production and post-harvest technologies in an integrated manner with visible impact to catalyze increased production of millets in the country. … in case of small millets, which have low productivity in general and are taken by resource poor tribal farmers in remote interior areas, production programme would be organized in all the identified districts … Technical Assistants would be provided in each production and post-harvest clusters purely on contract basis for effective implementation of the programme. … Technology demonstration kits of critical inputs of nutrients and plant protection measures comprising of micro-nutrients, fungicides and bio-fertilizers, DAP, urea, potash and pesticides including weedicides … These kits would be supplied free of cost to the beneficiary farmers subject to maximum area of 2 hectare.”
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research: 'Role of millets in Nutritional Security of India' (NAAS Policy Paper 66) ↗ · reference work “Currently, they sustain the livelihood of over 60% of small and marginal farmers.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·