The Modi government has given a huge gift to farmers in the budget. The government has declared the year 2023 as the year of coarse grains. The government will emphasize the national and international brand of coarse grain products. At the same time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that she will initiate the Ken-Betwa link project at a cost of Rs 44605 crore. The Finance Minister announced the introduction of the PPP model to provide high-tech and digital services to farmers. However, the Finance Minister did not say anything about the amount of PM Kisan Yojana.
In his budget speech, the Finance Minister said that inclusive growth is the priority of the government, which includes farmers of rice, kharif and rabi crops. Under this, 1,000 lakh metric tons of rice is expected to be procured. This will benefit more than 1 crore of farmers. In order for farmers to adopt natural agriculture, a comprehensive package will be introduced for the participation of state governments and MSMEs.
The Rs 44,605 crore Ken-Betwa link will be implemented to provide irrigation to more than 9 lakh hectares of farmers’ land, facilitating irrigation, cultivation and livelihood of farmers and local people. The use of farmer drones for crop assessment, land registration, pesticide spraying is expected to drive a wave of technology in the agriculture and livestock sector.
The Finance Minister said that record purchases will be made in the MSP. Organic farming will be promoted. Rs 2.37 lakh crore will be given to farmers through DBT.
Small industries (MIPYMES) will be supported through the Credit Guarantee Scheme. The railways will create new products and an efficient logistics service for small farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises. Udyam, e-shram, NCS and Aseem portals will be interconnected, so their reach will be wider. These portals will provide the service of GC, BC and BB. This would include credit facilities, improving business opportunities.
What is MSP?
MSP stands for Minimum Support Price or Minimum Support Price. The central government sets a minimum price for crops, this is called MSP. With this, farmers know the fixed price of their crop, how much the price of their crop is going up. In a way, it is a guarantee of the price of the crop. Even if the price of the crop falls in the market, the government will pay the farmer for the crop according to the MSP.
In which crops is the MSP available?
Government Cereal Crops – Rice, Wheat, Bajra, Maize, Jowar, Ragi, Barley and Pulses – Gram, Arhar, Moong, Urad, Masoor and Oilseed Crops – Soybean, Mustard, Sunflower, Sesame, Niger or Black Sesame, Safflower . The MSP applies to the rest of the crops: sugar cane, cotton, jute, coconut.
Railways to develop new products for small farmers, MSMEs
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that Railways will develop new products for small farmers, MSMEs. Introducing the General Budget for 2022-23 at the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman noted that thanks to the efforts of the central and state governments, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities are increasing.
He also said that the National Highways will be extended by 25,000 km in 2022-23 and the “PM Gati Shakti” for road transport master plan will be finalized in 2022-23.
Farmer MP amount did not increase
The hopes of more than Rs 12 crore farmers have suffered a setback. More than 12 crores of PM Kisan farmers expected that this time the amount of PM Kisan would be at least one and a half times in the budget, but this could not happen.
Let us tell you that the number of beneficiaries of PM Kisan has increased to more than 12 crore 47 lakh. The Modi government launched this scheme in 2018 with the aim of doubling the income of farmers. From then until now the government has released 10 quotas. Under this scheme, farmers receive Rs 6,000 per year in three installments of 2000-2000.
The Dec-March 2022 quota has so far reached the accounts of more than Rs 10.60 crore of farmers. At the same time, in this financial year, the August-November 2021 quota has gone into the hands of more than Rs 11.18 crore of farmers. If we talk about the 8th installment or April to July 2021, more than Rs 11.12 crores of farmers have been benefited so far. These figures are available on the PM Kisan Portal.