PM Modi addresses post budget webinar on Agriculture and Cooperatives
“Agricultural budget which was less than 25,000 crores in 2014 has been
increased to more than 1,25,000 crores today”
“Every Budget in recent years has been called a budget for Gaon, Gareeb and
Kisan”
“The government working towards making domestic and international markets
accessible to the farmers”
“Various decisions are being continuously taken in the budget to promote the
agricultural sector so that the nation becomes ‘atmanirbhar’ and the money used
for imports can reach our farmers”
“The goal of complete development cannot be achieved until the challenges
related to the agriculture sector are eliminated”
“India is home to more than 3000 agri-startups today compared to next to
nothing 9 years ago”
“International identity of millets is opening a gateway to the global market
for Indian farmers”
“A new revolution is taking place in the cooperative sector of India”
The Prime
Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the post-budget webinar on ‘Agriculture and
Cooperatives’ today. It is the second of a series of 12 post-budget webinars
organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective
implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023.
Addressing
the gathering, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance given to the
agricultural sector in this year’s budget as well as budgets of the past 8-9
years. He informed that the agricultural budget which was less than 25 thousand
crores in 2014 has been increased to more than 1 lakh 25 thousand crores today.
“Every Budget in recent years has been called a budget for Gaon, Gareeb and
Kisan”, Shri Modi said.
Noting
that India’s agricultural sector remained distressed for a long time since
independence, the Prime Minister pointed out the country’s dependence on the
outside world for our food security. He highlighted how India’s farmers
transformed the situation by not only making the nation ‘atmanirbhar’
(self-sufficient) but also capable of exporting food grains. “Today India is
exporting many types of agricultural products”, the Prime Minister said as he
shed light on the efforts of the government to make domestic and international
markets accessible to the farmers. He also stated that India’s goal should not
be limited to rice or wheat when it comes to self-sufficiency or export.
Highlighting the imports in the agricultural sector, the Prime Minister gave
examples of expenditures of Rs 17,000 crores in 2021-22 for the import of
pulses, 25,000 crores for the import of Value Added Food Products, and Rs 1.5
lakh crore spent on the import of edible oils in 2021-22. He further added that
the sum of all agricultural imports was about Rs 2 lakh crores. The Prime
Minister emphasized that various decisions are being continuously taken in the
budget to promote the agricultural sector so that the nation becomes
‘atmanirbhar’ and the money used for imports can reach our farmers. He gave
examples of increase in MSP, promotion of pulse production, increase in the
number of food processing parks, and work in mission mode to become completely
self-sufficient in terms of edible oil.
The
Prime Minister underlined that the goal of complete development cannot be
achieved until the challenges related to the agriculture sector are eliminated.
He observed that private innovation and investment are keeping a distance from
this sector which leads to low participation of India’s youth in the
agricultural sector compared to the other sectors which witness active
participation and growth. The Prime Minister highlighted that various
announcements have been made in this year's budget to fill this lacuna. Drawing
an analogy to the open platform of UPI, the Prime Minister mentioned the
Digital Public Infrastructure platform in the agriculture sector and noted the
immense possibilities of investment and innovation in Agri-Tech domains. The
Prime Minister listed out the opportunities such as improving logistics, making
large markets more accessible, promoting drip irrigation through technology, and
installation of soil testing labs along the lines of medical labs. He also
urged the youth to work towards delivering the right advice at the right time
while creating a bridge of information between the government and the farmer
about their innovations and also assisting in policy making. The Prime Minister
also touched upon using drones for crop approximation while providing real-time
information about weather changes.
The
Prime Minister informed about the introduction of accelerator funds for
agri-tech startups and said that the government is not only creating digital
infrastructure but also preparing funding avenues. He urged the youth and young
entrepreneurs to move forward and achieve their goals. The Prime Minister
pointed out that India is home to more than 3000 agri-startups today compared
to next to nothing 9 years ago.
The
Prime Minister touched upon the International Year of Millets and said that its
international identity is opening a gateway to the global market for Indian
farmers. “The country has now identified coarse grains as Shri Anna in this
budget”, the Prime Minister remarked. He said that Shri Anna is being promoted
for the benefit of our small farmers as well as to increase the possibility of
growth of startups in this sector.
“A
new revolution is taking place in the cooperative sector of India”, the Prime
Minister remarked as he pointed out that it is not limited to some states and
some regions of the country anymore. He informed that tax-related reliefs have
been given to the cooperative sector in this year’s budget which will benefit
new cooperative societies engaged in manufacturing. He further added that TDS
will not be levied on cash withdrawals up to Rs 3 crore by cooperative
societies. The Prime Minister also mentioned the important decision of tax
exemption given to the payment made by the sugar cooperative before 2016-17 and
said that it will benefit the sugar cooperative to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore.
The
Prime Minister emphasized that sectors such as dairy and fisheries which did
not have cooperatives earlier will greatly benefit the farmers today. Throwing
light on the huge opportunities for our farmers in fisheries, the Prime Minister
informed that fish production in the country has increased by about 70 lakh
metric tonnes in the last 8-9 years. He also touched upon a new sub-component
that has been announced under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana at a cost of 6000
crores which will give a boost to the fisheries value chain as well as the
market.
Concluding
the address, the Prime Minister touched upon the PM Pranam Yojana and Gobardhan
Yojana where the government is working towards promoting natural farming and
reducing chemical-based farming.