The Finance Minister has opened the government’s treasury for farmers and agriculture sector in this budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced an allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors in the financial year 2024-25. Presenting the 2024-25 budget in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said that a comprehensive plan has been outlined to promote research, sustainable farming, increase oilseed and pulse production and integrate technology into the agricultural landscape.
Government’s emphasis on increasing yield
In her budget speech, Sitharaman stressed the need for a thorough review of the agricultural research framework to increase productivity and develop climate-tolerant crop varieties. The finance minister said, “Our government will comprehensively review the agricultural research ‘setup’ to focus on increasing productivity and developing climate-tolerant varieties.” The research funding will be challenge-based and open to private sector participation, with experts in a particular field overseeing the conduct of research. Sitharaman announced that farmers will soon have access to 109 new high-yielding, climate-tolerant varieties across 32 field and horticultural crops. To promote self-sufficiency in key crops, the minister unveiled plans for a mission focused on pulses and oilseeds, aimed at strengthening their production, storage and marketing infrastructure.
Preparations to achieve ‘self-sufficiency’
“As per the strategy announced in the interim budget, a strategy is being prepared to achieve ‘self-sufficiency’ for oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean and sunflower,” Sitharaman said. The government’s emphasis on research and crop diversification comes along with promoting sustainable farming practices. Sitharaman announced an initiative to bring one crore farmers under natural farming in the next two years, which will be supported by certification and branding efforts. To modernise the sector, she outlined plans to implement digital public infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture covering farmers and their land in three years. The initiative includes digital crop survey and creation of farmer and land registry.
Government to conduct digital crop survey
Sitharaman said, “In the current financial year, the government will conduct digital crop survey for the Kharif season using DPI in 400 districts. Details of six crore farmers and their land will be brought into the farmer and land registry.” The budget also includes provisions for developing large-scale vegetable production clusters near major consumption centres, promoting farmer-producer organisations and startups in the supply chain. To boost the fisheries sector, Sitharaman announced financial assistance for setting up a network of nucleus breeding centres through NABARD for prawn production and export. He also proposed to reduce the basic customs duty on certain broodstock, polychaete worms, shrimp and fish feed to five per cent and to exempt customs duty on various inputs for manufacture of shrimp and fish feed.
National Cooperative Policy Scheme Announced
The Finance Minister unveiled the schemes of the National Cooperative Policy to develop the cooperative sector in a systematic way. Additionally, Jan Samarth-based issuance of Kisan Credit Cards will be enabled in five states. The allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sectors underlines the government’s commitment to rural economic development and employment generation. This allocation is for agriculture and allied sectors.
