Nirmala Sitharaman Live: 8 point agricultural reform announced in 3rd tranche of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat pkg

The reforms in the agricultural sector announced by Sitharaman are in line with PM Modi’s call for broad-based reforms to unlock the true economic potential of the sector.

The finance ministry on Friday announced several reforms in the agriculture sector in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform the farm sector. Nirmala Sitharaman announced that government was looking to amend the Essential Commodities Act to deregulate prices of food items including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions, and potatoes among others. In addition, the minister also unveiled an eight-point-reform programme aligned with the self-sufficient India vision.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the idea was to empower the Indian economy to stand up on its own than to promote entitlement. (HT Photo Sonu Mehta)

“Our focus is that India stands up on its own, so there is a lot in terms of empowering people and sectors. Entitlement will be given where it is required but it is about making India self-reliant,” Sitharaman said while announcing the package for the agricultural sector.

Here are the details of the eight-point farm reforms announced in the third tranche of the ₹20,000 crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat special economic package to combat the crisis triggered by cronavirus epidemic.

1. One lakh crore Agri Infrastructure Fund for creating farm-gate infrastructure for farmers including cold chain and post harvest management structure in the vicinity of farm gate. Financing facility of ₹1,00,000 core will be provided for funding agriculture infrastructure projects and aggregation points. This fund is to be created immediately.

3. ₹20,000 crore for fisherman through Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) to fulfill critical gaps in fisheries value chain and for integrated sustainable inclusive development of marine and inland fisheries. Out of this, ₹11,000 crore is meant for marine, inland fisheries and acquaculture and ₹9,000 crore is meant for infrastructure like fishing harbours, cold chain, markets etc. This fund infusion is likely to help in additional fish production of 70 lakh tones over 5 years and gain in employment to over 55 lakh persons.

4. A total outlay of ₹13,343 crores for Naitonal Animal Disease Control programme was announced.

5. Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund of ₹15,000 crore was being created for supporting private investments in Dairy processing and value addition and cattle feed infrastructure.

6. ₹4,000 crore was earmarked for the promotion of herbal cultivation which will bring in an additional 10,00,000 hectare of land under cultivation in the next two years. Such a corridor could be developed on both sides of river Ganga, said Sitharaman.

7. ₹500 crore for beekeeping initiatives in the rural areas.

8. ₹500 crore for Operation Green to prevent the wastage of agricultural produce due to disruption of supply chains during the lockdown. This will be extended for the next six months from crops like tomatoes, potatoes and onions to all fruits and vegetables. This involves subsidy for transportation and storage.