Rs 12,800 crore set aside for agricultural sector

Backed by popular central regimes such as flagship Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the Yogi Adityanath government has made another attempt to reach out to farmers by allocating over Rs 12,800 crore to the agricultural sector in 2022-23.

The state government had allocated Rs 12,340 crore for 2021-2022, which was later reduced to Rs 11,430 crore. Over Rs 6,200 crore of the total allocation has been earmarked for cultivation activities, while over Rs 1,100 crore has been earmarked for soil and water conservation.

About Rs 6,000 crore has been set aside for animal husbandry, dairy development, fisheries, forestry, horticulture, food grain storage and agricultural research and education. The budget allocation is seen as the BJP government’s attempt to garner support from the farming community.

The state government reaffirmed its commitment to provide free irrigation to farmers through 34,307 state tube wells and 252 small branch canals. A provision of Rs 1,000 crore has also been offered under the CM Minor Irrigation Scheme.

The state government has expanded the scope of the CM Krishak Accident Welfare Scheme, which has been in effect since September 14, 2019, to include members of farming families whose main source of income is farm income.

Those who carry out agricultural work on leased land are also covered by the scheme, which provides a maximum payout of Rs 5 lakh in the event of accidental death or disability. In the budget, a provision of Rs 650 crore is proposed for this program.

Apart from irrigation facilities, the state government has prioritized unconventional energy sources such as the installation of solar pumps through Prime Ministers Kisan Urja Suraksha and Utthan Mahabhiyan Yojana. In 2022-2023, it is proposed to install up to 15,000 solar pumps.

To ensure the distribution of quality seed to farmers, the state government has proposed to distribute 60.2 lakh quintals of seed in 2022-23, slightly more than the 60.1 lakh quintals of seed distributed in 2021- 22.

Furthermore, the budget announced the distribution of 119.3 lakh metric tons of fertilizers in the current fiscal year. This is significantly more than the 99.80 lakh metric tons of fertilizer distributed by the state government in 2021-22. The budget also said the government had made record sugarcane price payments to sugarcane growers totaling over Rs 1.72 lakh crore as of May 16.

First published: May 27, 2022, 08:27 IST