PM addresses a webinar on positive impact of Union Budget 2022 in Agriculture sector
“In just 6 years agriculture budget has been increased manifold. Agriculture
loans for farmers have also increased by two and half times in the last 7
years”
“With 2023 being recognized as International Year of Millets, the corporate
world should come forward for branding and promoting Indian millets”
“Artificial intelligence is going to completely change the trend related to
agriculture and farming in the 21st century”
“In the last 3-4 years, more than 700 Agri Startups have been created in the
country”
“Government has created a new ministry related to cooperatives. Your goal
should be how to turn cooperatives into a successful business enterprise.”
Budget proposals to be implemented from the First of April: Agriculture
Minister
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressed a
webinar on positive impact of Union Budget 2022 in Agriculture sector. He
discussed the ways in which the Budget will contribute to strengthening
agriculture sector. The Webinar was focused on ‘Smart Agriculture’- Strategies
for implementation. Concerned Union Ministers, representatives of state
governments, representatives from industry and academia and farmers through
various Krishi Vigyan Kendras were present on the occasion.
At the outset, the Prime Minister noted the third
anniversary of the launch of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. “This scheme has become a
strong support for the small farmers of the country. Under the scheme, almost
1.75 lakh crore rupees have been given to 11 crore farmers”, he said. The Prime
Minister talked about many new systems spanning from seed to market and also
about the reforms in the old systems in the agriculture sector. “In just 6
years agriculture budget has been increased manifold. Agriculture loans for
farmers were also increased by two and half times in the last 7 years”, he
added. He pointed out that during the difficult period of the pandemic, 3 crore
farmers were given Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) as part of the special drive and
the facility of KCC was extended to farmers engaged in Animal Husbandry and
Fisheries. Micro irrigation network has also been strengthened to great benefit
of the small farmers, he said.
Due to these efforts, he said, farmers are giving
record production and new records have been created in MSP purchases too. Due
to encouragement to organic farming, said the Prime Minister, market for
organic products has reached 11000 crore, with export rising to more than 7000
crore rupees from 2000 crore rupees 6 years ago.
The Prime Minister elaborated on the seven ways in
which the Budget proposes to make agriculture modern and smart. Firstly, The
target is to undertake natural farming on mission mode within 5 kilometres on
both the banks of the Ganges. Secondly, Modern technology in agriculture and
horticulture will be made available to the farmers. Thirdly, Emphasis has been
laid on strengthening Mission Oil Palm to reduce the import of edible oil.
Fourthly, new logistics arrangements will be made through PM Gati-Shakti plan
for the transportation of agricultural products. Fifth solution in the Budget
is better organization of agri-waste management and increasing farmers’ income
through waste to energy solutions. Sixthly, more than 1.5 lakh post offices
will provide services like regular banking so that farmers are not troubled.
Seventh, Agri research and education syllabus will be changed as per demands of
modern times with regard to skill development and human resource development.
The Prime Minister noted year 2023 being recognized
as International Year of Millets and called upon the corporate world to come
forward in branding and promoting Indian millets. He also asked major Indian
missions abroad to organize seminars and other promotional activities to
popularize the quality and benefits of Indian millets. The Prime Minister also
asked for leveraging increasing awareness for environmental friendly lifestyle
and resulting market for natural and organic products. He exhorted the KVKs to
create awareness for natural farming by adopting a village each for promotion
of natural farming. .
Modi emphasized the need for increased soil testing
culture in India. Highlighting the government’s focus on the Soil Health Cards,
he called upon the startups to come forwards to facilitate the practice of soil
testing at regular interval.
Emphasizing innovations in the irrigation field,
the Prime Minister underlined government’s focus on ‘per drop, more crop’. He
said there are many possibilities for the corporate world in this too. He also
mentioned the transformation that will be brought about by the Ken- Betwa link
Pariyojana in Bundelkhand region. Modi
also reiterated the need to quickly complete the pending irrigation projects.
The Prime Minister stressed that Artificial
intelligence is going to completely change the trend related to agriculture and
farming in the 21st century. Increasing use of drones in farming is part of
this change. “Drone technology will be available on a scale only when we
promote agri-startups. In the last 3-4 years, more than 700 Agri Startups have
been created in the country”, he added.
With regard to work in the sphere of post-harvest
management, the Prime Minister said that the government has been trying to
increase the scope of processed food and ensuring international standards of
quality. “In this regard, along with the Kisan Sampada Yojana, the PLI scheme
is important. The value chain also plays a big role in this. Therefore, a
special Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been created”,
The Prime Minister pointed out.
The Prime Minister emphasized management of
agri-residue (parali). “For this, some new measures have been taken in this
budget, due to which carbon emission will be reduced and farmers will also get
income”, he said. He also asked to explore ways of using agri-waste for packaging.
The Prime Minister also touched upon the potential
in the field of ethanol where the government is moving ahead with a goal of 20
per cent blending. The blending has reached near 8 per cent compared to 1-2 per
cent in 2014, he informed.
The Prime Minister dwelled on the role of the
cooperative sector. He said “India's cooperative sector is very vibrant. Be it
sugar mills, fertilizer factories, dairies, loan arrangements, purchase of food
grains, the participation of cooperative sector is huge. Our government has
also created a new ministry related to it. Your goal should be how to turn
cooperatives into a successful business enterprise.”
The webinar was attended by Union Minister for
Agriculture and Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Consumer Affairs,
Food and Public Distribution, Textile, Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal,
Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala,
Minister for Food Processing Industries, Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of State
for Agriculture, Kailash Chaudhary, Minister of State for Cooperation BL Verma, Minister of State for Information
and Broadcasting, L Murugan and other ministers, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog,
Prof Rajiv Kumar and Secretaries of concerned Departments, KVKs, ICAR
Institutes, ATMA and farmers of the country.
The webinar had an open discussion on five breakout sessions namely
Natural Farming and its outreach, Emerging High-Tech and Digital Agri
Ecosystem, Bringing Back Glory of Millets; Moving Towards Aatmanirbharta in
Edible Oil, Sahkarita Se Samridhi, Financing Investment In Value Chain
Infrastructure in Agriculture & Allied Sector with Stakeholders
of respective fields.
In his concluding remarks the Agriculture Minister suggested that the
views given by all stakeholders will be uploaded on web portal of Ministry and
more suggestions are welcome.