Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh is turning out to be a pacesetter in implementation of direct benefit transfers (DBT) to farmers.

Farmers in UP got Rs 28.60 per quintal from the state government for the sugarcane they supplied to mills during the 2014-15 crushing season. The payments, totalling Rs 2,127.25 crore, were made based on lists furnished by mills of their growers along with the quantum of cane delivered. 

This information — verified by district cane officers and cooperatives societies through whom the purchases were done — was used to credit the payments to individual bank accounts of growers. 

A cross-section of farmers in Moradabad and Bijnor districts The Indian Express spoke to confirmed having received the Rs 28.60 relief from the UP government during August-September, even while they criticised it for not forcing mills to pay fully the balance Rs 251.40 per quintal due last season. But even more ambitious is an ongoing exercise of online registration of farmers for DBT purposes. Since last September, when it was launched, the state government has registered over 36 lakh farmers, each assigned a unique ‘Kisan ID’ number. These cover details of the names of the farmers; the village, block and district to which they belong; land particulars (holding size, khasra and khatauni numbers, etc); mobile numbers and bank accounts. The DBT portal of the UP agriculture department is already being used for disbursal of subsidy on seed purchases by farmers registered with it. For instance, the subsidy on seeds of certified wheat varieties has been fixed at Rs 1,400 per quintal in the current 2015-16 rabi season. Farmers can buy these from stores belonging to the agriculture and cooperative departments, UP State Agro Industrial Corporation, UP Seed Development Corporation or Kribhco and Iffco at the notified market price of Rs 3,000 per quintal. The subsidy amount is, then, transferred directly into their bank accounts within 15 days of purchase. “We have covered five lakh of the 36 lakh-plus registered farmers under DBT so far this season. Since sowings are still on, I won’t be surprised if the figure ends up at 8-10 lakh,” Amit Mohan Prasad, principal secretary (agriculture), UP government, said. He estimated the total seed subsidy credited through DBT to touch Rs 175 crore in rabi 2015-16. That includes Rs 161 crore just on 11.5 lakh quintal of wheat seeds and the rest for other rabi crops like chana (chickpea), matar (field-pea), masur (lentil) and mustard. In the 2015 kharif season, the DBT scheme was restricted to hybrid paddy seeds, with 15,000 quintal distributed to 1.5 lakh farmers at an average subsidy of Rs 130/kg. “Apart from seeds, we are providing subsidy on agricultural implements such as rotavators, seed drills, disc harrows, cultivators and knapsack sprayers via DBT. Our plan is to extend this to micronutrients, gypsum and other inputs as well,” Prasad said. Incidentally, the UP government’s direct transfer of relief to cane growers has been replicated by other states and the Centre, too. The latter, on November 18, announced a production subsidy of Rs 4.50 per quintal on cane to be crushed in the 2015-16 season, with this money to be “paid directly to the farmers on behalf of the mills”. Earlier last month, the Punjab government agreed for a similar direct subsidy of Rs 50 per quintal on cane processed by private mills in the state.