Budget 2024 allocates ₹ 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture & allied sectors, big focus on innovation & digital infra

New Delhi: The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Government will undertake a comprehensive review of the agriculture research setup to bring the focus on raising productivity and developing climate resilient varieties.

While presenting the Union Budget 2024-2025 in the Parliament, she said funding will be provided in challenge mode, including to the private sector. The Union Minister added that domain experts both from the Government and outside will oversee the conduct of such research. The Budget also announced that new 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation by farmers.

The Budget 2024-25 has made a provision of ₹ 1.52 lakh crore for agriculture and allied sector.

The Finance Minister also announced that in the next two years, one crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. She said implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats and 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established for the purpose.

As part of measures to enhance productivity and resilience in Agriculture sector, the Union Budget 2024-25 has announced several measures including Digital Public Infrastructure, ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds, Large scale clusters for vegetable production and financial support for network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks.

Buoyed by the success of the pilot project, the Government, in partnership with the states, will facilitate the implementation of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in agriculture for coverage of farmers and their lands in 3 years. During this year, digital crop survey for Kharif using the DPI will be taken up in 400 districts. She said the details of 6 crore farmers and their lands will be brought into the farmer and land registries.

Sitharaman added that the issuance of Jan Samarth based Kisan Credit Cards will be enabled in 5 states. For achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds, the Government will strengthen their production, storage and marketing.

Minister said that a strategy is being put in place to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower, as announced in the interim Budget. The Finance Minister added that large scale clusters for vegetable production will be developed closer to major consumption centres. She said Government will promote Farmer-Producer Organizations, cooperatives and start-ups for vegetable supply chains including for collection, storage, and marketing.

The Union Finance Minister said financial support for setting up a network of Nucleus Breeding Centres for Shrimp Broodstocks will be provided. Sitharaman said Financing for shrimp farming, processing and export will be facilitated through NABARD. Productivity and resilience in agriculture is first among the nine priority areas announced in the Union Budget.