PM Narendra Modi to address post-Budget webinar on ‘Agriculture and Cooperatives’ on February 24, 2023. The event is part of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to garner ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiative. Announced in the Union Budget 2023.
Importance of Agriculture in the Union Budget
The PM highlighted the importance given to the agriculture sector in this year’s budget as well as in the last 8-9 years’ budgets. He told the audience that the agriculture budget which was less than 25 thousand crores in 2014, has been increased to more than 1 lakh 25 thousand crores today. He further said that every budget in recent years has been called a budget for Gaon (village), Garib (poor), and Kisan (farmer).
Transformation of India’s Agricultural Sector
The PM also said that India’s agriculture sector has been in distress for a long time since independence, and the country was dependent on the outside world for food security. However, the farmers of India changed the situation by not only making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) but also able to export food grains. The Prime Minister emphasized the government’s endeavors to provide farmers access to both domestic and international markets. When it comes to self-sufficiency or exports, he said India’s goal should not be limited to just rice or wheat.
Imports in the Agricultural Sector
The PM also highlighted the importance of imports in the agriculture sector. He cited the example of Rs 17,000 crore to be spent on the import of pulses in 2021-22, Rs 25,000 crore for the import of value-added food products, and Rs 1.5 lakh crore on the import of edible oils in 2021-22. He further said that the sum total of all agriculture imports was around Rs 2 lakh crore. The Prime Minister emphasized that various decisions are being taken continuously in the budget to give a boost to the agriculture sector so that the country becomes ‘self-reliant’ and the money used for imports reaches our farmers.
Opportunities for Investment and Innovation in Agri-Tech Domains
The PM underlined that private innovation and investment is driving away from the agriculture sector, thereby reducing the participation of India’s youth in the agriculture sector, compared to other sectors that see active participation and development. He highlighted that several announcements have been made in this year’s budget to bridge this gap. Comparing the open platform of UPI, the Prime Minister referred to the digital public infrastructure platform in agriculture and the immense potential for investment and innovation in the agri-tech domain.
The Prime Minister listed opportunities like improving logistics, making large markets more accessible, promoting drip irrigation through technology, and setting up soil testing laboratories on the lines of medical laboratories. He urged the youth to work towards giving the right advice at the right time by creating a bridge of information between the government and the farmers about their innovations and also help in policy making. The Prime Minister also talked about using drones for crop forecasting while providing real-time information about climate change.
