Agriculture. The BJP government has published an infographic on the 48-months portal. The info-graph is apart of a larger sub section on the government’s commitment to farmers. Itmakes seven claims about the government’s focus on doubling farmer’s incomes.This article is a fact check of the claims made in the infographic. (ReadPart-1 here) Is there promotion of food processing? The fourth claim is thatthere is ‘Promotion of value addition through food processing’. A response in LokSabha from February 2019 states that ‘an innovative umbrella scheme, ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)’ has been launched in 2017 to promote modernisation and capacity enhancement of food processing industries in the country in all aspects including infrastructure and environment friendly packaging. The implementation period of the scheme is 2016-2020 with a total allocation of Rs.6000 crores. The PMKSY has seven component schemes viz; (i) Mega Food Parks, (ii) Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, (iii) Infrastructure for Agro-Processing Clusters, (iv) Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, (v) Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities, (vi) Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure and (vii) Human Resources and Institutions. The PMKSY is implemented in all the States of India and is not any region specific. The schemes under PMKSY are demand driven. The objectives of PMKSY are to create modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet, to give a major boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country and help government’s initiative in doubling of farmers’ income, create huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas, reduce wastage of agricultural produces, increase the processing level and enhance the export of the processed foods’. Under the scheme, grants-in-aid @ 35%of the eligible project cost is provided in General Areas and 50% of theeligible project cost in North Eastern States including Sikkim and Difficultareas including Himalayan States (Himachal Pradesh, J&K & Uttarakhand),notified ITDP areas and Islands subject to a maximum of Rs.5.00 crore. The foodprocessing units can be setup in Mega Food Parks (MFPs), Agro ProcessingClusters (APC) and Designated Food Parks (DFPs) notified by the Ministry fromtime to time. However, in States / UTs having no MFP, APC or DFP, the foodprocessing units may be setup anywhere in the State / UT. Further, theunits having majority stake of SC / ST promoter(s) and with an eligible projectcost of more than Rs. 5 (five) crore can be set up at any location in thecountry. To meet the credit demand of the food processingsector, the food and agro-based processing units and cold chain infrastructurehave been brought under the ambit of Priority Sector Lending (PSL) by theReserve Bank of India (RBI) with effect from 23.04.2015. A special foodprocessing fund of Rs.2000 crore has been created with the National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 2014-15 for providing affordablecredit to designated Food Parks and Agro Processing Units located in thedesignated Food Parks. Further, under various schemes of the PMKSY, subsidy isprovided to the investors in food processing sector to enhance their credit worthinessfor bank loans to set up various food processing industries. However, it has tobe noted here that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has beenimplementing Mega Food Park Scheme since 11th Five Year Plan to create moderninfrastructure for the food processing. Lastly, it has been stated that ‘with a view to promoting food processing industries in the country, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has sanctioned 42 Mega Food Parks, 234 Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, 17 Agro Processing Clusters, 32 Backward and Forward Linkages and 83 food processing units under various schemes of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY)’. The following table shows the number of food processing industries registered in the country over the years as per data shared in the parliament. Claim: Promotion of value addition through food processing. Fact: The government has taken steps to promote the food processing industry in the country. However, some of these steps have been initiated long before the BJP government. The impact of the policies has not officially been evaluated. However, the claim is TRUE. Was a national farmers market created? The fifth claim is thatthere is a ‘creation of a national farm market, removing distortions and e-platform across 585 stations’.