Top 10 Findings From Nirmala Sitharaman’s Ads For Farmers

A fund worth Rs 1 lakh crore will be established “immediately” to strengthen farm infrastructure and aggregators such as the Farmers Producers Organization, agricultural entrepreneurs and cooperative societies of primary agriculture. The Finance Minister said there was a lack of long-term investment in agricultural infrastructure and that this fund would help develop “financially viable post-harvest infrastructure and management.”

A law will be implemented to achieve agricultural marketing reforms to help farmers access adequate options to sell their products at attractive prices, remove barriers to interstate commerce, and encourage electronic commerce. These reforms will eliminate the problems related to the free flow of products between different states, as envisaged by the “one nation, one market” policy. Farmers are currently required to sell products only to licensees in the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC),

The government will also modify the Commodity Law to allow farmers to obtain better prices for their products. Agricultural foods, such as cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, legumes, onions and potatoes, will be deregulated, and stock limits will be imposed only in “very exceptional circumstances”.

Rs 500 million will be set aside for vegetable and fruit supply chains disrupted by the coronavirus blockade. Previously, this scheme was intended for tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, but will now include all fruits and vegetables. Key features include a 50 percent subsidy on transportation from surplus markets to poor markets and an equal subsidy for storage facilities. This will be a six-month pilot project that will be expanded in the evaluation.

A scheme worth Rs 10 billion was announced for the formalization of Micro Food Enterprises (MFE). Unorganized MFEs need a technical upgrade to meet food safety standards and build their brands, Sitharaman said, adding that this will help two lakh units achieve their goals. The scheme will follow a group-based approach, with expected results that will include better health and safety standards and higher incomes.

Rs 20 billion will be provided to fishermen through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. Rs 11,000 crore is for activities in inland and marine fisheries and aquaculture. Rs 9,000 crore is for port development, markets and cold chain management. This will lead to an additional fish production of around 70 lakh tons in the next five years, while also employing more than 55 lakh people, the government said.

The National Program for the Control of Animal Diseases was launched with a disbursement of Rs 13.343 billion for the vaccination of 100 percent of the populations of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs against foot-and-mouth disease and brucellosis. There are about 53 million pets, the government said.

A Livestock Infrastructure Development Fund worth Rs 15 billion will be established to support private investment in dairy processing and the manufacture of livestock feed.

Rs 4 billion has been set aside for herb cultivation. The National Board of Medicinal Plants has supported the cultivation of medicinal plants on 2.25 lakh hectares, with a total of 10,00,000 hectares to be covered in 2022; This will include 800 hectares along the Ganges. This will lead to Rs 5 crore in income for farmers, the government said.

Rs 500 million has been set aside for beekeeping initiatives. The scheme will attend to the infrastructure related to the beekeeping development centers and the collection, storage and commercialization of products. This will lead to higher incomes for around two lakh beekeepers and better quality of honey, said the finance minister.