During her Budget 2022–2023 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a number of important initiatives for the agriculture industry that would help farmers’ economies recover. See below for major announcements pertaining to the agricultural industry.
List of important announcements related to the agriculture sector: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget 2022-23 speech announced some significant measures for the agricultural sector that will pave the way for the economic revival for the farmers.
While presenting the Union Budget 2022-23, she said that the procurement of wheat in Rabi 2021-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif 2021-22 will cover 1208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers, and Rs. 2.37 lakh crore direct payment of MSP value to their accounts.
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar cited that the Budget 2022-23 is for the villages, poor people, farmers, women and youth. He further said that the Budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been increased to Rs.1.32 lakh crore from earlier Rs.1.23 lakh crore.
List of agricultural schemes in India 2022
1- Digital and hi-tech services for farmers: A new scheme will soon be launched in PPP mode under which farmers will be provided with digital and hi-tech services. The public sector research and extension institutions, along with private agri-tech players and stakeholders of the agri-value chain, will be involved.
2- Start-up fund for agriculture and rural enterprise: With an emphasis on the start-up ecosystem in agriculture, a fund with blended capital will be facilitated through NABARD. The fund raised under the co-investment model aims at financing startups for agriculture & rural enterprise which is relevant for the farm produce value chain. The activities for these startups will include inter alia, machinery for farmers on a rental basis at farm level, and technology including IT-based support for FPOs.
3- Ken-Betwa Link Project: The Ken-Betwa Link Project at an estimated cost of Rs. 44,605 crore will be implemented. The project aims to provide irrigation benefits to 9.08 lakh hectares of farmers’ lands, drinking water supply for 62 lakh people, 103 MW of Hydro, and 27 MW of solar power.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the allocations of Rs. 4,300 crore in RE 2021-22 and Rs. 1,400 crore in 2022-23 has been made for this project. The draft DPRs of five river links- Damanganga-Pinjal, Par-Tapi- Narmada, Godavari-Krishna, Krishna-Pennar and Pennar-Cauvery have been finalized. After the consensus among the beneficiary states, the Centre will provide support for the implementation of the project.
4- Kisan Drones: The use of ‘Kisan Drones’ will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients.
5- Chemical-free Natural Farming: Chemical-free Natural Farming will be promoted pan India with a focus on farmers’ lands in 5-km wide corridors along river Ganga, at the first stage.
6- Support for millet products: The budget provided post-harvest value addition, thereby enhancing domestic consumption, and branding millet products nationally and internationally.
7- Scheme for oilseed production: To reduce dependency on the import of oilseeds, a rationalised and comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented.
8- Food Processing: The government will provide a comprehensive package with the participation of state governments to help farmers adopt suitable varieties of fruits and vegetables, and can use appropriate production and harvesting techniques.
The states will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities so as to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition and management.
