Budget 2023: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures for the Indian agriculture sector on Wednesday while presenting Budget 2023. Among them were announcement of digital public infrastructure for agriculture, agriculture accelerator fund and Shree Anna – its flagship scheme for popularising millets.

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Here are top 10 announcements for this sector:

1) Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture: Digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an open source, open standard and inter operable public good. This will enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.

2) An Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set-up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas. The Fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers. It will also bring in modern technologies to transform agricultural practices, increase productivity and profitability.

3) Enhancing productivity of cotton crop: To enhance the productivity of extra-long staple cotton, we will adopt a cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). This will mean collaboration between farmers, state and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.

4) Enhancing productivity of cotton crop: To enhance the productivity of extra-long staple cotton, we will adopt a cluster-based and value chain approach through Public Private Partnerships (PPP). This will mean collaboration between farmers, state and industry for input supplies, extension services, and market linkages.

5) Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program: Government will launch an Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program to boost availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high value horticultural crops at an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore.

6) Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’ Now to make India a global hub for 'Shree Anna', the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level.

7) The agriculture credit target will be increased to Rs 20 lakh crore with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.

8) Government to launch a new sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of Rs 6,000 crore to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.

Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty50 built on their intraday gains as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rose to present the Budget in Parliament. This Budget, the first in Amritkal, is a blueprint for the next 25 years, said Sitharaman in her Budget speech. The Indian economy is estimated to expand seven per cent despite a slowdown across the world, the finance minister added. 

Anand Ramanathan, Partner, Deloitte India for your kind perusal:

"The budget focuses a lot on the supply and input side of the agricultural value chain. The increased availability of credit, facilitation of better-quality inputs through clean plant program, investments in digital infrastructure and skill development will all help in increasing farm level productivity by building awareness and facilitating better quality inputs. The shift towards decentralised storage is also an important step in reducing wastage and helping increase shelf life of agricultural produce. The increased focus on driving millet cultivation, consumption and exports, higher investment in fisheries and promotion of natural farming are all helpful from a crop diversification, sustainability and nutrition standpoint. The focus on better management of co-operatives and producer collectives will help farmers in realising better prices for their produce. Finally, the agriculture accelerator announcement for promoting start-ups in ag-tech enterprises will help increase yield and productivity on the supply side while also enhancing price realisation for the farmer on the demand side through more efficient market linkages," Anand Ramanathan, Partner, Deloitte India said.