Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allocated ₹1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors in the Budget for 2024-25 fiscal. Stating that agriculture was a key agenda of the government, she said productivity and resilience will be in focus when formulating policies.
In the next two years, one crore farmers will be initiated into natural farming, she said,adding that the government will support them in matters of certification and branding. The project will be implemented through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats, for which 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.
There would also be a comprehensive review of research to develop climate-resilient seeds. As part of the 100-day programme, 109 new seed varieties across 32 field and horticulture crops will soon be released.
Comprehensive review
“Our government will undertake a comprehensive review of the agriculture research set-up to bring the focus on raising productivity and developing climate-resilient varieties. Funding will be provided in challenge mode, including to the private sector. Domain experts, both from the government and outside, will oversee the conduct of such research,” she said.
The new announcements include Jan Samarth-based Kisan Credit Card in five States, finance through NABARD for shrimp farming and export and financial support for setting up a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks will be provided, she said.
The government will introduce a national cooperation policy for the overall development of the country, Sitharaman said. Fast-tracking the growth of the rural economy and the creation of employment opportunities will be the policy goal, the minister said. The draft policy was submitted by a panel of experts, headed by former Union minister Suresh Prabbhu, last fiscal.
She said the Centre will promote digital public infrastructure for agriculture in partnership with states. The details of six crore farmers and their lands will be entered into registries over the next three years, she said, adding that a digital crop survey would be undertaken in 400 districts from the current Kharif season.
‘Efforts to cut costs’
The government is taking measures to increase the supply of fruits and vegetables in the market, she said, adding that large-scale vegetable clusters would be developed closer to major consumption centres. “We will promote Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs), cooperatives and start-ups for vegetable supply chains including for collection, storage, and marketing,” she said.
She also repeated the mission for pulses and oilseeds production, including a strategy to make the country self-sufficient in mustard, groundnut, sesame, soyabean and sunflower production.
Commenting on the Budget, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said not only is there a talk of increasing production, but efforts are also being made in this budget to reduce costs. When the farmer gets a Kisan Credit Card or a cheap loan, the cost of production will be reduced. He also said that there has been an emphasis on increasing the crop production as without it the income will not grow.
Chouhan also said that creating digital infrastructure in agriculture will save farmers from many problems, especially the production of pulses and oilseeds will increase and they will also get a fair price. For instance, if farmers produce urad, masoor and tur, those will be purchased at MSP.
Fertilizer subsidy unchanged
The minister further said that under the proposed mission for natural farming, farmers will be trained not to use chemical fertilizers so that the fruits, vegetables, grains, will be beneficial from health aspect. “We will be saved from many diseases and the health of Mother earth will also improve. The mission on natural farming will come soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, the fertiliser subsidy has been kept at Rs 1.64 lakh crore, same as proposed in the interim Budget, though it is lower from Rs 1.88 lakh crore in 2023-24 (revised estimate). The food subsidy has also been set at same Rs 2.05 lakh crore as was in the interim Budget, which is lower from the revised estimates of Rs 2.12 lakh crore during 2023-24.
The Budget Allocation for the Department of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare has been kept at Rs 1.22 lakh crore and that of Department of Agricultural Research and Education at Rs 9,941 crore for FY25.