National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) has been formulated for enhancing agricultural productivity especially in rainfed areas focusing on integrated farming, water use efficiency, soil health management and synergizing resource conservation.

Mission Objectives

1. To make agriculture more productive, sustainable, remunerative and climate resilient by promoting location specific Integrated/Composite Farming Systems;
2. To conserve natural resources through appropriate soil and moisture conservation measures;
3. To adopt comprehensive soil health management practices based on soil fertility maps, soil test based application of macro & micro nutrients, judicious use of fertilizers etc.;
4. To optimize utilization of water resources through efficient water management to expand coverage for achieving ‘more crop per drop’ ;
5. To develop capacity of farmers & stakeholders, in conjunction with other on - going Missions e.g. National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, National Food Security Mission, National Initiative for Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) etc., in the domain of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures;
6. To pilot models in select blocks for improving productivity of rainfed farming by mainstreaming rainfed technologies refined through NICRA and by leveraging resources from other schemes/Missions like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), RKVY etc.; and
7. To establish an effective inter and intra Departmental/Ministerial co - ordination for accomplishing key deliverables of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture under the aegis of National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

Mission Strategy

• Promoting integrated farming system covering crops, livestock & fishery, plantation and pasture based composite farming for enhancing livelihood opportunities, ensuring food security and minimizing risks from crop failure through supplementary/ residual production systems;
• Popularizing resource conservation technologies (both on - farm and off - farm) and introducing practices that will support mitigation efforts in times of extreme climatic events or disasters like prolonged dry spells, floods etc.
• Promoting effective management of available water resources and enhancing water use efficiency through application of technologies coupled with demand and supply side management solutions;
• Encouraging improved agronomic practices for higher farm productivity, improved soil treatment, increased water holding capacity, judicious use of chemicals/ energy and enhanced soil carbon storage;
• Creating database on soil resources through land use survey, soil profile study and soil analysis on GIS platform to facilitate adoption of location and soil - specific crop management practices & optimize fertilizer use;
• Promoting location and crop specific integrated nutrient management practices for improving soil health, enhancing crop productivity and maintaining quality of land and water resources;
• Involving knowledge institutions and professionals in developing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies for specific agro climatic situations and promoting them through appropriate farming systems
• Programmatic interventions as per land capability and conducive to climatic parameters in select blocks as pilots for ensuring integrated development through dissemination and adoption of rainfed technologies with greater reach in disadvantaged areas & location specific planning by way of coordination, convergence and leveraging investments from other Schemes/Missions like MGNREGS, IWMP, RKVY, National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Mission for Agricultural Extension & Technology (NMAE&T) etc.

Mission Interventions

NMSA has following four (4) major programme components or activities:

Rainfed Area Development (RAD)

RAD adopts an area based approach for development and conservation of natural resources along with farming systems. This component has been formulated in a ‘watershed plus framework’, i.e., to explore potential utilization of natural resources base/assets available/created through watershed development and soil conservation activities /interventions under MGNREGS, NWDPRA, RVP&FPR, RKVY, IWMP etc.. This component introduces appropriate farming systems by integrating multiple components of agriculture such as crops, horticulture, livestock, fishery, forestry with agro based income generating activities and value addition. Besides, soil test/soil health card based nutrient management practices, farmland development, resource conservation and crop selection conducive to local agro climatic condition are also promoted under this component. A cluster based approach of 100 hectare or more (contiguous or non contiguous in difficult terrain with close proximity in a village/adjoining villages) may be adopted to derive noticeable impact of convergence and encourage local participation and for future replication of the model in larger areas. Supplementary support from this component will be admissible for gap - filling resource conservation activities under converging programmes. RAD clusters should have soil analysis/soil health card /soil survey maps to justify the interventions proposed and at least 25% of the farming system area will have to be covered under On Farm Water Management. Farming Systems recommended by ICAR’s Contingency Plans and successful findings of NICRA projects shall also be considered in development of integrated project plan. Besides, creation and development of common property resources/assets/utilities like grain bank, biomass shredders, fodder bank, group marketing etc. will be encouraged under this component.

On Farm Water Management (OFWM)

OFWM focuses primarily on enhancing water use efficiency by promoting efficient on - farm water management technologies and equipment. This not only focuses on application efficiency but, in conjunction with RAD component, also will emphasize on effective harvesting & management of rainwater. Assistance will be extended for adopting water conservation technologies, efficient delivery and distribution systems etc. Emphasis will also be given to manage and equitably distribute the resources of commons by involving the water users associations, etc.. To conserve water on farm itself, farm ponds may be dug using MGNREGA funds and earth moving machinery (to the extent manual digging under MGNREGA is not feasible)

Soil Health Management (SHM)

SHM aims at promoting location as well as crop specific sustainable soil health management including residue management, organic farming practices by way of creating and linking soil fertility maps with macro - micro nutrient management, appropriate land use based on land capability, judicious application of fertilizers and minimizing the soil erosion/degradation. Assistance will be provided for various improved package of practices based on land use and soil characteristics, generated through geographical information system (GIS) based thematic maps and database on land and soil characteristics through extensive field level scientific surveys. Besides, this component will also provide support to reclamation of problem soils (acid/alkaline/saline). This component will be implemented by State Govt., National Centre of Organic Farming (NCOF), Central Fertilizer Quality Control & Training Institute (CFQC&TI) and Soil and Land Use Survey of India (SLUSI).

Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture: Monitoring, Modeling and Networking (CCSAMMN)

CCSAMMN provides creation and bidirectional (land/farmers to research/scientific establishments and vice versa) dissemination of climate change related information and knowledge by way of piloting climate change adaptation/mitigation research/model projects in the domain of climate smart sustainable management practices and integrated farming system suitable to local agro - climatic conditions. Comprehensive pilot blocks will be supported to illustrate functional mechanism for dissemination of rainfed technologies, planning, convergence and coordination with flagship schemes/Missions like MGNREGS, IWMP, Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), RKVY, NFSM, NHM, NMAET etc. Such an integrated action of input and output flows across agriculture, livestock and other production systems will harness the growth potential of the rainfed production systems, imparting sustainability of local production systems while negotiating climate change risks.

Cost Norms and Pattern of Assistance

To get the complete cost norms and pattern of assistance, click here.

Source : National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture .

Related resources

1. Operational Guidelines of National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture .