Keeping in mind that agriculture is a fundamental part of India’s recovery process and a crucial sector of the Indian economy, the Union Budget 2022-23 proposed Rs 132513.62 crore for the agriculture sector, a marginally hike by 4.5 per cent as compared to the last year and stressed to promote Kisan Drone for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides, delivery of digital and hi tech services to farmers.
The government has increased the agricultural credit target to Rs 18 lakh crore for the 2022-23 fiscal from Rs 16.50 lakh crore for the current fiscal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that focused on ensuring assured income to farmers with an announcement of Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards direct payments for minimum support price (MSP) to wheat and paddy farmers for the fiscal year 2022-23.
Farmer leaders claimed that the amount of Rs 2.37 lakh crore towards the MSP is less than the previous year when a total Rs 2.87 lakh crore was paid to them. They also claimed that the budget on agriculture is a revenge on farmers’ protests.
To finance startups and rural enterprises working in agri-space, the minister said the government will facilitate a fund with blended capital raised under the co-investment model through NABARD.
She said the government will promote chemical-free natural farming throughout the country with a focus on farmers’ lands in five-kilometre wide corridors along the river Ganga in the first stage.
For the delivery of digital and high-tech services to farmers, she said the government will launch a scheme of public-private partnership (PPP) model with the involvement of public sector research and extension institutions along with private agri-tech players and stakeholders of agri value chains.
As per the Budget document, the fund allocations for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship schemes- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) is proposed to be Rs 15500 crore in the current fiscal year as compared to the Rs 15989 crore last year.
Reacting on the Budget, Dr KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India Pvt Limited said that the emphasis on use of Kisan Drones for crop assessments, land records, spraying of insecticides and micronutrients, which will be a game changer for the agriculture sector.
The Budget allocation for the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has been increased by 44 per cent to Rs 6,037.31 crore and for Food Processing Industries by 2.25 times to Rs 2,941.99 crore for the next fiscal.