Annadata – Sowing seeds of mechanisation…
With close to 148 million people involved in agriculture, the field contributes about 15 per cent to the GDP and employs more than 45 per cent of the population. Climate change and the usual systematic issues have affected the sector and the government’s vision of doubling farmer income is yet to be realised. This budget too tries hard to expand the income pockets but at the same time has stressed the need to mechanise farming and create ways for high value-added products.
Direct financial assistance has been given to 11.8 crore farmers under PM-KISAN and the crop insurance, PM Fasal Bim Yojana provided coverage to over 4 crore people. By integrating 1361 mandis under eNAM, trading volume of Rs 3 lakh crore has been supported.
Thrust on farm mechanisation
With an allocation of more than Rs 1.27 lakh crore, ministry of agriculture received 2 per cent of the budget. The finance minister announced a strategy will be devised to achieve self-sufficiency for oilseeds, by focusing on developing high-yielding varieties. The government is keen on increasing investment in post-harvest activities including aggregation, modern storage, efficient supply chains, primary and secondary processing. All these value addition help farmers realise higher value for their produce. With the success of nano urea, nano DAP application is to be implemented. Allied industries like dairy, fisheries have also got a major thrust. Creating a new avenue to expand rural economy and adding a fresh dimension to enhance farmers’ income, focus has been shifted to bio mass. The progressive mandate for compressed bio gas blending tackles both the missions of achieving net-zero emission and farmer welfare in one go. To aid this, financial assistance for biomass aggregation machinery has been announced in the budget. The bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry scheme that aim at transforming the consumption-oriented manufacturing outlook to a regenerative, will aid the usage of agricultural inputs to manufacture environmentally friendly products, thus furthering new avenues of farmer incomes.
Rs 127,370 crore has been allotted to agriculture and farmer’s welfare ministry with a sum of Rs 9941 crore for the department of agricultural research. This is marginally higher than the Rs 9877 crore allocated in 2023-24 (RE). It signifies the government’s recognition of the economic shift towards manufacturing as the country embarks on a new growth phase. Now, more needs to be done to facilitate smooth transition of the population moving away from agriculture. It is essential to create employment opportunities at their doorstep and provide the necessary training for individuals to undertake these opportunities.
Setting up industries in rural areas
Tamil Nadu has a successful model for this. As the agrarian population of the state is slowly dwindling, most of them move into construction industry and several other informal jobs. The major hit is to women who have been a strong agriculture labour force. To absorb them into newer work streams and to prevent their migration to cities, the state has set up industries that offer jobs of various skill levels, close to villages. Some of the major brands that are involved in manufacture of shoes, e-vehicles, automobiles, textiles have set their shop in such locations and with minimum training, are able to get high quality employees. Most of these units even boast of an all women line thus creating a massive positive impact on the rural economy.
