look news india
In the last decade, the Government of India has unprecedentedly increased its budget on agriculture sector. The sector, which contributes about 17 per cent of the country’s GDP and provides employment to millions of people, is at the top of the government’s priorities. After the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, government spending on the agriculture sector has seen a 6-fold increase.
PM-KISAN Scheme: A Flagship Program
The government’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) has played a big role in this growth. Under this scheme, an amount of Rs 6,000 is transferred directly to the farmers’ bank accounts every year.
- Share in agriculture budget: PM-KISAN scheme accounts for about 50 per cent of the total budget for the agriculture sector.
- Plan for FY 2024-25: Apart from PM-Kisan scheme, the government is planning to spend Rs 65,529 crore on other agricultural schemes.
Tremendous increase in agriculture budget from 2014 till now
- The agriculture budget has been increasing continuously since 2014-15.
- Growth rate after 2019-20:
- The agriculture budget grew at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) rate of 5.4 percent.
- Expenditure on PM-Kisan scheme increased by 6.5 percent annually.
Important contribution of crop insurance and interest subsidy
- Programs like crop insurance and interest subsidy have a major share in the agriculture budget.
- Crop Insurance Scheme:
- There is a plan to increase its budget to Rs 16,070 crore by 2025.
- Its budget in 2024 was Rs 14,600 crore.
Need for improvement in agricultural research
Expenditure on agricultural research and development (R&D), however, has been low compared to other sectors.
- First term (2015–2020):
- Agricultural research recorded an annual growth of 9.2 percent.
- second term:
- This growth decreased to 5.7 percent annually.
- Research Budget:
- In 2015 this expenditure was Rs 4,840 crore.
- In 2020 it increased to Rs 7,523 crore.
- There is a plan to increase it to Rs 9,941 crore by 2025.
Government priorities: plans for the future
In the coming years, the priority of the Central Government will be on the overall development of the agriculture sector and doubling the income of farmers.
- Focus on other schemes:
- There are plans to launch new schemes to increase crop production, use modern technology, and make farmers economically capable.
- PM-KISAN Scheme: An effort to provide financial stability to farmers by providing them direct financial assistance.
- Budget Hike: More funds are expected to be allocated for the agriculture sector in the upcoming budget.