New Delhi
Agriculture and Cooperation
The Union finance minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the union budget for 2023-2024 today on the 1st of February 2023 in the parliament and termed it as Vision for Amrit Kaal and gave saptarishi 7 points as priorities. As per the union budget 2023-24 a total of ₹1.25 Lakh crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare which is less than that of the previous year. A total of 1.75 lakh crore was incurred for fertilizer subsidy and 1.97 lakh crore as subsidy for food during the year 2021 to 2022. The various schemes or pointers for this years union budget with respect to agriculture are given below
Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture
Digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard and interoperable public good. This will enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.
Agriculture Accelerator Fund
An Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set up to encourage Agri startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas. The Fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers. It will also bring in modern technologies to transform agricultural practices and increase productivity and profitability.
Enhancing the productivity of cotton crop
To enhance the productivity of extra-long staple cotton, we will adopt a cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). This will mean collaboration between farmers, the state, and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.
Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program
We will launch an Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program to boost availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high value horticultural crops at an outlay of 2,200 crore.
Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’
“India is at the forefront of popularizing Millets, whose consumption furthers nutrition, food security and welfare of farmers,” said Hon’ble Prime Minister.
We are the largest producer and second largest exporter of ‘Shree Anna’ in the world. We grow several types of ‘Shree Anna’ such as jowar, ragi, bajra, kuttu, ramdana, kangni, kutki, kodo, cheena, and sama. These have a number of health benefits, and have been an integral part of our food for centuries. I acknowledge with pride the huge service done by small farmers in contributing to the health of fellow citizens by growing these ‘Shree Anna’.
Now to make India a global hub for ‘Shree Anna’, the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.
Agriculture Credit
The agriculture credit target will be increased to 20 lakh crore with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.
Fisheries
We will launch a new sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of ` 6,000 crores to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.
Cooperation
For farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, and other marginalised sections, the government is promoting cooperative-based economic development model. A new Ministry of Cooperation was formed with a mandate to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’.
To realize this vision, the government has already initiated computerisation of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of ` 2,516 crore. In consultation with all stakeholders and states, model bye-laws for PACS were formulated enabling them to become multipurpose PACS. A national cooperative database is being prepared for country-wide mapping of cooperative societies.
With this backdrop, we will implement a plan to set up massive decentralised storage capacity. This will help farmers store their produce and realize remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times.
The government will also facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies in uncovered panchayats and villages in the next 5 years.
Budget at a glance official site Link
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Download synopsis as pdf here
Economic survey 2022 gist agriculture
