New Delhi: India is looking forward to the Annual Budget 2022-23 which will be presented by the union finance minister on Tuesday. Like every budget, this year too brings a lot of expectations for the country fighting the third wave of Covid-19 while bearing the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
Agriculture is one of the prime sectors to look at as it contributes roughly 18 per cent to the GDP with more than 60 per cent of the Indian population directly or indirectly associated with it.
As such, allocation to this sector has increased in the NDA government. In the year 2021-22, the Agriculture Budget amounted to 1,23,018 crore which was a 14% increase from 2020-21. As per the trends for the last seven years of the Modi government, an increase in the allocation is well expected but at the same time, experts and the farmer bodies have their own expectations and predictions as far as budgetary allocations to this sector are concerned.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Agriculture Expert and the Chairman of Indian Chambers of Food and Agriculture (ICFA), MJ Khan emphasized the need to promote organic farming, agri-startups, agri-entrepreneurship, and exports.
"The government talks about organic and zero budget farming but it needs to work on that aspect. Chemical fertilizers are subsidized for farmers but there is no subsidy on organic inputs. Also, the GST on chemical fertilizers is 5 per cent whereas, on biofertilizers, it is 12 per cent. If you want to promote zero budget or organic farming, these things need to be addressed" he said.
During the pre-budget consultation meetings with the union finance minister, the ICFA chairman had suggested the government address five points which included Jointly Branded Kisan Credit Cards, increase in the number of incubation centers to give a boost to agri-entrepreneurship, a special mission for agri-startups, schemes to promote fisheries/poultry/dairying and emphasis on increasing agri-exports.
There is a general view that the budget for agriculture this year will come with some populist measures as polls in agriculture-driven states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are around the corner.
The centre recently repealed the three contentious farm laws after a year-long protest by farmer unions on Delhi borders but it is said that the anger among the farmer community persists because of delayed response from the government. Also, the farmers are at feud over unaddressed demands the government had given written assurance on after which the protest on Delhi borders was called off.
However, the expert opined that even if the government makes some populist announcements to please the farmer community, it is unlikely to have any impact on the voters.
"Elections are scheduled in the same month and in such a short period, the only pleasing thing a government can do is announce cash transfers which is unlikely. Even if some populist announcement is made, it takes some time to convert it into votes. So we can not expect this budget to make any such big-ticket populist announcements as far as the agriculture sector and especially the farmers are concerned," said Khan.
Agronomist Vijay Sardana suggests that for the agriculture sector, post-harvest infrastructure should be incentivized for rural employment and the growth of exports.
On the other hand, RSS affiliate Farmers' Union Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) is expecting that the government should double the amount of Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi. Currently, an amount of Rs 6,000 is transferred to all the farmers registered under the scheme in three equal instalments of Rs 2000 each.
BKS has demanded to increase it to at least Rs 12000. Among the other demands raised by Kisan Sangh include fertilizer subsidy to be transferred directly to farmers' accounts and not to the company's account, cutting down GST on agricultural products, budgetary allocation for 15 organic agriculture universities, financial support to farmers raising indigenous breeds of bulls and other cattle.
During the pandemic, agriculture has been the only sector that has shown a positive growth trend. The estimated growth in the sector according to experts is 3.6 per cent for the year 2021-22. It is predicted that this will go up to around 4 per cent in the next financial year.
However, the government's target to double farmers' income by the year 2022 is still unrealized. Now it is being said that the government might extend the target to double farmers' income by one year and bring some special scheme this budget to achieve the target within the extended deadline.
