Rs 500 crore for Namo Drone Didi scheme, Rs 365 crore for natural farming mission

In her budget speech, the minister said, “In the next two years, 1 crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. Implementation will be through scientific institutions and willing gram panchayats. 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.”

The Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 365.64 crore for National Mission on Natural Farming for 2024-25, which is lower than last year’s allocation of Rs 459 crore and higher than the revised estimate of Rs 100 crore.

On agriculture research, Sitharaman said, “Our government will undertake a comprehensive review of the agriculture research setup to bring the focus on raising productivity and developing climate resilient varieties. Funding will be provided in challenge mode, including to the private sector. Domain experts both from the government and outside will oversee the conduct of such research.”

“New 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops will be released for cultivation,” she said.

The minister also announced that issuance of Jan Samarth-based Kisan Credit will be enabled in five states. Jan Samarth, an online platform provides a single window facility for 13 government schemes application submission.

Referring to the missions for pulses and oilseeds, Sitharaman said, “For achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds, we will strengthen their production, storage and marketing. As announced in the interim budget, a strategy is being put in place to achieve ‘atmanirbharta’ for oil seeds”. The announcement is significant as India is dependent on imports to meet its edible oil demand.

On vegetable production and supply chains, the Finance Minister said, “Large-scale clusters for vegetable production will be developed closer to major consumption centres. We will promote farmer-producer organisations, cooperatives and start-ups for vegetable supply chains, including for collection, storage, and marketing.”

A National Cooperation Policy will be brought for an all-round development of the cooperative sector, Sitharam an said.

“Fast-tracking growth of rural economy and generation of employment opportunities on a large scale will be the policy goal,” she said.

On shrimp production and export, Sitharaman said, “Financial support for setting up a network of nucleus breeding centres for shrimp broodstocks will be provided”.

Of the Rs 1.52-crore allocation made for agriculture and allied sector, Rs 1.32 lakh crore have been earmarked for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, while an allocation of Rs 7,137 crore has been made for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The Finance Minister, however, kept the allocation of the PM-Kisan at Rs 60,000 crore.