Budget 2024: Efforts of value addition in agriculture sector and increasing farmers' income will be stepped up, says FM Nirmala Sitharaman — Key announcements for farm sector

Budget 2024 key announcements for agriculture sector: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech said that the Government will step up its efforts to add value in the agriculture sector and increase the income of farmers.In this regard, the Government has increased the minimum support prices for 'Annadata' (farmers) periodically and appropriately,  she said. 

She added that the government will promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities, including storage and processing. "To ensure faster growth of the sector, the government will further promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities, including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing, and marketing and branding," FM said.

"The sector is poised for inclusive, balanced, higher growth and productivity. These are facilitated from farmer-centric policies, income support, coverage of risks through price and insurance support, promotion of technologies and innovations through start-ups.", the Finance Minister mentioned in her speech.

Apart from crop insurance that is given to 4 crore farmers under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, she said that several other programmes are assisting 'Annadata' in producing food for the country and the world and added that the worries about food have been eliminated through free ration for 80 crore people.

Placing farmers, alongwith the poor, women and the youth of the country, she called them the four "major castes" of the country, and stated that meeting the needs and fulfilling the aspirations of these four are the government's highest priority. Presenting the interim budget for 2024-25, she said the government is working with an approach to ensure development that is all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive.

Here are some of the major announcements for the agriculture sector from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Interim Budget speech —

FM announces plans to increase milk, dairy production 

The Finance Minister announced plans to increase milk and dairy production in the country, saying that India is the largest milk producer in the world but there is low productivity. She said, "India's milk production rose 4 per cent to 230.58 million tonnes in 2022-23." The Finance Minister also announced a comprehensive programme to support dairy farmers and tackle foot and mouth disease among cattle.
"A comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated. Efforts are already on to control foot and mouth disease. India is the world's largest milk producer but with low productivity of milch animals. The programme will be built on the success of existing schemes such Rashtriya Gokul Mission, the National Livestock Mission, and Infrastructure Development Funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry," she said.

Strategy to boost oilseeds production

She also said a strategy will be developed for Atma Nirbharta to boost production of oilseeds such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean, and sunflower. The Finance Minister mentioned in her speech that this will cover research for high-yielding varieties, widespread adoption of modern farming techniques, market linkages, procurement, value addition, and crop insurance.

Promotion of private and public investment in post-harvest activities

The finance minister stated that the government will further promote private and public investment in post-harvest activities to boost food processing levels and farmers' income. 

Expanding usage of nano-liquid DAP 

Application of nano-liquid DAP (di-ammonium phosphate), a key fertiliser, will be expanded to all agro-climatic zones, she said.

38 lakh farmers benefited from PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana

Finance Minister said that Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana Yojana has benefited 38 lakh farmers and assisted 2.4 lakh self-help groups (SHGs).

Advantage of credit linkages

Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana has assisted 2.4 lakh SHGs and sixty thousand individuals with credit linkages.

Seafood exports doubled under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana 

Lauding the establishment of a separate fisheries department, the Finance Minister informed the Parliament that the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana has helped double seafood exports from 2013-14. The scheme will be boosted to generate 55 lakh jobs and boost exports to Rs 1 lakh crore. "It was our government that set up a separate Department for Fisheries, realising the importance of assisting fishermen. This has resulted in a doubling of both inland and aquaculture production. Seafood exports since 2013-14 have also doubled," she added.

11.8 crore farmers receive financial assistance under PM KISAN Yojana 

The FM said that as many as 11.8 crore farmers were provided financial assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) — one of the world's largest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes. Under the PM-KISAN scheme, the government provides a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal four-monthly instalments. The money is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers' families across the country through DBT mode. Announced in February 2019 in the interim budget, the scheme was effective from December 2018.