A new Pradhan Mantri flagship — for micro-irrigation this time

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“PMKSY will be on the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana for building rural roads launched during the time of the last NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The new scheme will provide end-to-end solutions in the irrigation supply chain, including the water source, the distribution network and farm-level application,” said officials.

Besides, another new scheme to support organic farming — the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana — has been launched with an allocation of Rs 300 crore.

On the other hand, the agriculture ministry’s flagship programmes under the UPA like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana will see a huge cutback. The Budget has provided only Rs 4,500 crore towards this programme in 2015-16, as against Rs 8,444 crore in the revised estimates for the current fiscal and Rs 9,954 crore in the original Budget Estimates.

In fact, the total Plan outlay for the department for agriculture and cooperation has been reduced during the coming fiscal from Rs 22,260.55 crore for 2014-15 (BE). “The main reason for this is the higher central tax devolutions to states from the 14th Finance Commission award. As a result, in many centrally-sponsored schemes, the state’s share in revenue expenditures has gone up. The overall spending is unlikely to fall,” said sources.

The department of agricultural research and education has also seen a marginal reduction in budgeted Plan allocation from Rs 3,715 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 3,691 crore in the ensuing fiscal.