Budget 2021: Amid farmers’ stir, FM announces 7 more measures for agri sector

The reforms are being seen as steps to support the agriculture sector and were introduced amid constant disruption from opposition parties.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday introduced nine more reforms for the agricultural sector as thousands of farmers continued their protest against the three farm laws on the borders of the national capital. The reforms are being seen as steps to support the agriculture sector and were introduced amid constant disruption from opposition parties.

Farmers listen to a speaker during a protest against the farm laws at Singhu border near New Delhi, India, January 30, 2021. (Reuters)

During her third budget speech, which lasted around one hour and 50 minutes, Sitharaman said the government is committed to the welfare of farmers and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime has undergone a change. Sitharaman, who presented the ninth budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, said the budget was prepared in circumstances like never before, adding that the government was fully prepared to facilitate a reset of the economy.

Here are the seven measures introduced by the finance minister in Budget 2021:

Swamitva scheme

Sitharaman has proposed to extend the Swamitva scheme to all states and Union territories. This is an extension of the scheme which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring transparency in property ownership in villages. "Under the scheme, a record of rights is being given to property owners in villages. Up till now, about 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have been provided cards," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Doubling of Micro-Irrigation Fund

Presenting the budget, the finance minister on Monday proposed to double the Micro Irrigation Fund, started with a corpus of ₹5,000 crore under NABARD, by augmenting it by another ₹5,000 crore.

Operation Greens Scheme

In this budget, the government is aiming to boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, the finance ministry said in a statement. For this, a proposal has been made to increase the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOPS), to be enlarged to include 22 perishable products.

Agricultural credit target enhanced to ₹16.5 lakh crore in FY22

In a bid to provide adequate credit to our farmers, the agricultural credit target has been enhanced to ₹16.5 lakh crore in financial year 21-22. The government will focus on ensuring increased credit flows to animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries, Sitharaman said.

33% increase Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

The finance minister also announced the enhanced allocation to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from ₹30,000 crore to ₹40,000 crore.

Integration of 1,000 more mandis with e-NAM

The finance minister said that around 1.68 crore farmers are registered and ₹1.14 lakh crore of trade value has been carried out through e-NAMs. Keeping in view the transparency and competitiveness that e-NAM has brought into the agricultural market, the finance minister has proposed to integrate 1,000 more mandis with e-NAM to bring transparency and competitiveness.

APMCs to get access to Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

The Finance Minister proposed to make available the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to APMCs for augmenting their infrastructure facilities.