Budget 2020: FM Sitharaman highlights 16 points to showcase govt’s focus on farmers

Stressing on the need for hand-holding of farm-based activities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the Centre and state governments will have to cooperate with each other to improve the condition of the farmers.

“The government expects to double farmer income by 2022,” she said in her Budget speech on Saturday.

The Finance Minister highlighted 16 points to indicate the Modi government’s focus on farmers. Here are some of them:

- A total of 6.11 crore farmers insured under Fasal Bima Yojana.

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- Encourage states to take up model agricultural laws.

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- Comprehensive measures for 100 water stressed districts.

- PM Kusum scheme removes dependence on kerosene and encourages use of solar power.

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- Our govt will encourage balanced use of fertilisers. This is an important step because currently use of chemical fertilisers is incentivised.

- NABARD will take up an exercise of mapping and geo tagging agricultural warehouses, cold storage and other inventory storages.

- A village storage scheme is proposed to be managed by SHEs. This will help farmers store more and reduce logistics costs. Women in the village will be responsible for managing this seamless storage mechanism.

- Krishi UDAAN scheme will be launched by the Aviation Ministry.

- Horticulture sector with its current produce exceeds the production of food grains. We will now take it to, One Product One District.

- Financing of negotiable warehousing receipts will be integrating other e-services.

- Agricultural credit availability for 2021 has been set at Rs 15 lakh crore.

"The 16 action points on the agriculture sector are mostly incremental reforms. The real reform required is to give farmers the freedom to sell their produce anywhere and at any price. Further, the requirement is to reduce the hidden unemployment in agriculture and help farmers to transition out of agriculture. 50% of the population employed in agriculture contribute only 18% of GDP," Anupam Manur, Fellow Takshashila Foundation.