Budget 2017: Reforms to bolster agricultural growth

While presenting the Union Budget for 2017-18 on February 1, 2017, finance minister of India, Arun Jaitley, announced a slew of measures for Indian agriculture and to accelerate its growth during the financial year. He said that the government will focus on increasing the credit flow to under-served areas. He announced computarisation for NABARD and said that he would allocate Rs 9,000 crore for the Fasal Bima Yojana.

Apart from this, he made several announcements on soil health cards and for a modern law on contract farming. Some of the key announcements during the Budget were;

1. The total allocation for rural, agricultural and allied sectors for 2017-18 is Rs 187223 crore, which is 24% higher than last year's

2. The government is committed to double farmers' incomes in 5 years

3. The target for agriculture credit is fixed at Rs 10 lakh crore

Related Post: Economic Survey 2017: Favourable weather to boost agricultural growth

4. The tenure of loans under Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been extended from 15 to 20 years

5. Soil health cards and mini lab in Krishi Vigyan Kendras will be setup

6. Coverage under Fasal Bima Yojna be increased to 40 percent from 30 percent

7. A dedicated micro-irrigation fund will be set up by NABARD. With an initial corpus of Rs 5000 crore, the aim is to achieve the goal of 'Per Drop More Crop'.

8. Dairy processing infrastructure fund will be set up under NABARD, with fund of Rs 8,000 crore

 Image Credit: modernfarmer.com