Budget provides for Rs.100 crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday announced the setting up of an Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs.100 crore to encourage research and development, saying it was necessary to make farming competitive and give an impetus to investment in agriculture.

Two institutions on the pattern of Indian Agricultural Research Institute to be established in Assam and Jharkhand, and agricultural universities in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides two horticulture universities in Telangana and Haryana were some of the other proposals announced in the budget for 2014-15 presented in the Lok Sabha.

The Finance Minister also provided for Rs.800,000 crore for agriculture credit. An amount of Rs.5000 crore has been allocated to address the need for scientific warehousing of produce.

Besides, a Price Stabilisation Fund of Rs.500 crore "to mitigate the suffering of farmers from price volatility in agriculture" will be set up, Jaitley said.

He also announced that a long-term rural credit fund would be set up in the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with an initial investment of Rs.5,000 crore to provide long-term refinance support for the farmers. The fund is expected to benefit 500,000 joint farming groups of landless farmers.

The union budget for 2014-15 also provides Rs.50 crore for indigenous cattle breeding.

Kisan TV, a dedicated visual channel for the farmers, would be unveiled this year, the finance minister said.

"The channel will provide real time information on farming techniques, water conservation, new technologies and organic training. I propose to allocate a sum of Rs.100 crore for this purpose," Jaitley said.