Question raised in Lok Sabha on Tiger Conservation Areas, 23/03/2018. Several milestone initiatives have been taken by the Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority for conservation and
protection of tiger and other wild animals and the same are at Annexure-I.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Conservation of Rhinoceros, 23/03/2018. Rhinoceros in wild are found only in three States viz, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Census of Rhinoceros is undertaken at the Statelevel by the respective State Governments periodically. As per the information received from the above three state Governments, the estimation of rhinoceros population in 2015 is given in the Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on National Bamboo Mission, 21/03/2018 . National Bamboo Mission was launched in 2006-07 with the objective inter alia to increase the coverage of bamboo in the country and establish convergence and synergy among stakeholders for development of bamboo sector based on a regionally differentiated strategy. The Mission primarily focuses on quality planting material, area expansion, improvement of existing stock, training of farmers/artisans, establishment of market infrastructure, research & development etc.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Drought Assistance, 20/03/2018. As per the latest data available on land use statistics, State-wise details of cultivable land (agricultural land) in the country for the year 2014-15 is given at Annexure I. The State wise details of suicides in farming/ agriculture sector during the years 2014 and 2015 as per NCRB Report may be seen at Annexure-II. State-wise details of assistance sought and approved (by Government of India) from NDRF during the last three years and the current year i.e.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Crops Covered Under MSP, 20/03/2018. The prices of agricultural produce are determined by supply and demand conditions in the market on a day to day basis. The prices of Agricultural produce tend to fall after the harvest season due to increase in market arrival of new crop in a lumpy manner. The MSPs and all India average monthly wholesale prices of major agricultural commodities are given at Annexure. The wholesale prices of Kardiseed and Sunflower seed have remained below MSP during 2014-15 to 2017-18.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Compensation Under Pradhan Matri Fasal Bima Yojana, 20/03/2018. State-wise details of number of farm holdings in the country, total number of farmer applicants insured, amount of insurance claims approved and settled for crops destroyed due to various natural calamities including flood under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) are given in Annexure.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Agricultural Output Affected by Deficit Rainfall, 20/03/2018. As per the Second Advance Estimates for 2017-18, the production of foodgrains for Rabi season is estimated at 139.02 million tonnes which is higher by 2.24 million tonnes than the previous record production of 136.78 million tonnes during 2016-17. Whereas, the production of Rabi oilseeds has been estimated at 9.52 million tonnes in 2017-18 which is marginally lower by 0.24 million tonnes than the production of 9.76 million tonnes during 2016-17.

Question raised in Lok Sabha on Water Pollution in Rivers, 16/03/2018. Pollution abatement of rivers is a continuous and ongoing process. It is the responsibility of the State Governments/ concerned local bodies to set up facilities for collection, transportation and treatment of sewage for abatement of pollution of rivers. This Ministry has been supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers under National River Conservation Plan (NRCP).