New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget today. In the Union Budget 2022-23, some key announcements have been made for the Agriculture sector and the Farmers. The Finance Minister said the Government will promote Kisan Drones, Chemical-free Natural Farming, Public-Private partnerships for the delivery of Digital and High-tech Services to Farmers across the country during the financial year 2022-23.
Ms Sitharaman said the inclusive development is one of the four priorities of the Government moving forward. As part of the inclusive development, the Government will promote the use of ‘Kisan Drones’ for crop assessment, digitization of land records, and spraying of insecticides.
A fund with blended capital, raised under the co-investment model, will be facilitated through NABARD. This is to finance startups for agriculture & rural enterprise, relevant for farm produce value chain. The activities for these startups will include, inter alia, support for Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs), machinery for farmers on a rental basis at farm level, and technology including IT-based support.
The Finance Minister further 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 longer river Ganga in the first stage.
The Indian Government has been promoting safer agricultural practices and the Union Budget 2022 will focus on Organic Farming and natural farming. The government will also stress domestic oilseed Production to reduce edible oil Imports, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2022 speech.
For delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers with the involvement of public sector research and extension institutions along with Private agri-tech players and stakeholders of the agri-value chain, a scheme in PPP mode will be launched.
States will be encouraged to revise syllabi of agricultural universities to meet the needs of natural, zero-budget, Organic Farming, modern-day agriculture, value addition, and management.
On the procurement of agri-crops, the FM said the government’s procurement of wheat and paddy at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) during 2021-22 will cover 1,208 lakh tonnes from 163 lakh farmers. “Rs 2.37 lakh crore will be the direct payment of MSP value to their accounts,” she added.
“The year 2023 has been announced as the year of millets,” announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23. Support will be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption, and branding millet products nationally and internationally.
Furthermore, in order to promote agroforestry and private forestry, policies will be brought and required legislative changes will be done by the government. Also, for farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes wanting to take up agroforestry, financial support will be given to them.
Organic Farming in India: Organic farming is recognized as a sustainable agriculture practice promoting the use of Organic/Bio inputs that takes care of the environment (including soil, biodiversity) and human well-being. Organic farming practices such as crop rotations, inter-cropping, cover crops, use of organic fertilizers improves Biodiversity, nutrient content, and water retention capacity of the soil.
Currently, around 12 states –Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand – have state organic certification agencies accredited by APEDA (Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority)
Sikkim is the only Indian state to have become fully organic so far, since 2003.
- A few states have taken the lead in enhancing the coverage of Organic Farming.
- Madhya Pradesh tops the list among the states with 0.76 million hectares of area under Organic Farming – which is more than 27% of India’s total Organic Farming area.
- Madhya Pradesh along with Rajasthan and Maharashtra account for about half of the area under Organic Farming.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has announced to make the tribal district of Dang a 100% natural farming district. Over the next five years, around 53,000 hectares of Dang district will be converted to Organic farming.