agriculture sector subsidy & food processing section 6 Practice Questions Answers Test with Solutions & More Shortcuts

Answer: (a)

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex development bank in India.

It was established on 12 July 1982 in the sixth five year plan and its main focus was to uplift rural India by increasing the credit flow for elevation of agriculture and rural non-farm sector and laying down policies and to oversee the operations of the RRBs.

Moreover, Regional Rural Banks grant direct loans and advances to marginal farmers and rural artisans. So both statements are correct.

Answer: (d)

“The Essential Commodities Act 1955 provides for the regulation and control of production, distribution and pricing of commodities which are declared as essential for maintaining or increasing supplies or for securing their equitable distribution and availability at fair prices. Exercising powers under the Act, various Ministries/Departments of the Central Govt. and under the delegated powers, the State Governments/UT Administrations can issue orders for regulating production, distribution, pricing and other aspects of trading in respect of the commodities declared as essential”

Generally, in the past (Pulses price crossed Rs. 200 in 2016) when the prices of basic commodities have increased, Central Govt. have brought those commodities under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 and then respective State Governments put stocking limits.

But, this time, in an unusual move on 29th Sept 2019, Central Govt. directly imposed a holding limit of 100 quintals on retailers and 500 quintals on wholesale onion traders across the country. So basically, under the Essential Commodities Act 1955, Central Govt. has delegated the powers for the implementation of the Act to States but that does not mean that Central Govt. can’t implement on its own.

So, to give relief to the consumers from high prices of onions, Central govt. offloaded 50,000 tonnes of buffer stock (which Central Govt. holds through Price Stabilization Fund Scheme) of onions across the country. Mother Dairy and Cooperatives like NAFED and NCCF sold the buffer stock at a cheaper rate of Rs. 23.9/kg in Delhi and other States.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) was established on 2nd October 1958. NAFED is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act 2002. NAFED was set up with the object to promote Cooperative marketing of Agricultural Produce to benefit the farmers.

Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of NAFED. NAFED works in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture. NAFED is the Nodal agency to implement the PSF scheme.

National Cooperative Consumers Federation of India Limited (NCCF) was established on 16th October 1965 to function as the apex body of consumer cooperatives in the country. It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002.

It operates through a network of 29 Branch Offices located in different parts of the country. The main objectives of the NCCF are to provide supply support to the consumer cooperatives and other distributing agencies for the distribution of consumer goods at reasonable and affordable rates. NCCF works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Answer: (d)

The Green Revolution in India has contributed to inter-regional, inter-class and inter-crop inequality as certain regions like UP and Punjab which used HYVs performed much better than others and become more advanced than other states.

Answer: (b)

In India, commercial banks have the highest share in the disbursement of credit to agriculture and allied activities. The commercial banks disburse around 60% credit followed by cooperative banks around 30% and RRB and others.

Answer: (a)

The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) started functioning in 1988 under the Administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India. FCS is the food and supplies department. RRB is a regional rural bank.

All the above three are not apex bodies at the national level. However National Agricultural cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) is one of the Central Nodal Agencies and apex bodies that implement PSS.