NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a 7 per cent cut in budget allocation for 2023-24 for the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DAFW) compared to previous year’s budget estimate. However, it is 5 per cent higher than last year’s revised budget estimate. The Budget 2023-24 has allocated Rs 115,531.79 crore for DAFW. It is lower by Rs 8,400 crore of the previous year’s budgetary estimate of Rs 124,000 crore.
The budget has seen a 11 per cent rise in the Department of Agricultural Research and Education allocation at Rs 9,504 crore compared to the previous year. The flagship agriculture programmes such as agriculture insurance and direct income support to the farmers have seen a dip in the allocation.
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the flagship scheme started in 2016 to protect farmers from weather vagaries, has seen fewer allocation. Due to climate change, the incidents of weather vagaries have increased, and farmers are at the receiving end as their income plummets. The budget for 2023-24 is Rs 13,625 crore, while it was Rs 15,500 crore in the previous year.
Another flagship scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan), which provides direct income support to farmers Rs 6,000 per year, has also decreased in allocation. This year the allocation is Rs 60,000 crore, which is less by Rs 8,000 crore.
In the meantime, allocation to the promotion of Farmers’ Producing Organisations (FPOs) and Distribution of pulses for welfare schemes has increased manifold. In 2021, the government had planned to promote FPOs to support smaller farmers. India has more than 86 per cent of farmers who are small and marginal. FPOs help in the aggregation of small, marginal and landless farmers and help them enhance economic strength and market linkages. FPOs increase the bargaining power of the small and marginal farmers in a collective manner, and it facilitates farmers with access to improved technology.
Finance Minister has said the agriculture credit target will be increased to Rs 20 lakh crore with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries and launched a new sub- scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of Rs 6,000 crore to further enable activities of fish vendors.
Focus on millets
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed the coarse grain crop Millet as ‘Shree Anna’ and acknowledged health benefits of millets. The water efficient, climate resilient crop has many varieties.
