The Budget this year presents an overall positive outlook for agriculture and allied industries. With over 2.83 lakh crore being allocated to the sector, the Centre’s 16-point agenda shows optimism for India to double farmer incomes and emerge as a leading global food-basket in the coming years.
With water scarcity being the key deterrent for the sector, the government’s policy push to identify and instil comprehensive countermeasures across the 100 water-stressed districts will be key to uplifting the economic burden of farmers in these areas. The announcement to set up standalone solar pumps for 20 lakh farmers and solar-aided pumps for 15 lakh farmers will go a long way in reducing the dependence of fossil fuel and promote the scope for sustainability in the sector.
The government has estimated the current capacity of cold storage and warehousing at 162 MT. However, it is still far from the market demand to efficiently address the rate of food loss in the country. With responsibility on the states to provide land infrastructure and the centre’s allocation of funds, there is great scope for the boost of the cold chain infrastructure in the country. The initiative for NABARD to geotag these centres, in addition to the village storage scheme to create backward linkage will also help improve awareness and access among farmers.
The setting up of Kisan Rail by the Indian Railways and the Krishi Udaan scheme by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on national and international routes to transport perishable goods will help in reducing food loss and address the overall cost within the farm-to-fork process, thereby driving profitability for farmers and reducing prices for consumers.
The current trend of Horticulture production in the country exceeding that of food grains can be further maximised at the state-level with the centre’s suggestion for each individual district to adopt one produce. By expanding the NABARD refinance scheme and extending the Agri-credit to Rs 15 lakh crore, there is greater scope to address the industry’s challenges of debt and loss of produce at a grassroot level.
This year’s budget has also emerged as a growth-bearer for the allied industries. The vision to double the milk capacity to 108 MT tonnes by 2025 is going to boost income for households in rural areas. By powering FFPOs (Fish Farmer Producer Organisations) and encouraging youth through the Sagar Mitra Scheme, the goal towards increasing production in fisheries to 2 lakh tonnes is a feat that lies ahead of the centre.
Overall, there is scope for building a new ecosystem of start-ups across the agri and allied sectors that will help create newer job opportunities in the nation and hopefully turbocharge the economic growth of the nation.
The 2020 budget will enable most of our sectors to take rejuvented strides, paving the way for new innovations & advancements in creating a better tomorrow.
— The writer is President, Danfoss, India Region
