Budget 2017: Farm allocation set to go up

Agricultural budget may rise by at least Rs 10,000 crore from 2015-16 BE of almost Rs 35,000 crore

Budget 2017-18 could bring some new schemes and allocations to marquee programmes for farmers as the Centre looks to lower their pain due to demonetisation.

According to initial discussions, a new scheme for the redevelopment of barren lots into an agriculturally useful land, enhanced allocation for agroforestry and drip irrigation could be in the offing. Overall, the agriculture ministry’s Budget could rise by at least Rs 10,000 crore from the 2015-16 Budget Estimate of almost Rs 35,000 crore, if the finance department goes along.

The 2016-17 BE was 94 per cent more from the previous year. It included Rs 15,000 crore for interest subvention on timely repayment of short-term crop loans, added for the first time.

Officials said if things went as planned, an allocation for agroforestry could go up to Rs 100 crore in 2017-18. Of the total geographical area of 329 million hectares, India has almost six per cent land as barren and not suitable for agriculture. That includes hills, mountains and deserts. 

Officials said another proposal is to increase the number of organic clusters from the current 10,000 to over 100,000. A new scheme to develop organic clusters could also be announced, hiving off from an existing programme called the Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana.

The ambitious Soil Health Card scheme, under which the Centre plans to provide a card to each of 140 million farmer families could also be changed. As of now, soil samples collected from five nearby fields are used to generate a single card. The finance minister might announce the mandatory collection of samples from each field.

Allocation for drip irrigation could be doubled to at least Rs 3,000 crore from the existing Rs 1,500 crore. This year saw a record Kharif harvest, aided by the best monsoon in three years. If production during the ongoing rabi season also matches the target and demonetisation don't have a big impact on farming, the country might have over four per cent growth in agriculture and allied activities in 2016-17. According to data from the Central Statistics Office, the gross value added (GVA) in agriculture and allied activities rose by 3.3 per cent in the July to September quarter. During the same period last year, it rose two per cent; in the June quarter of 2016, it was 1.8 per cent.

Around 51 per cent of the GVA in agriculture and allied activities is based on livestock products, forestry and fisheries, which had a combined growth of around 3.6 per cent in the second quarter. The south-west monsoon (June to September) was around 97 per cent of the Long Period Average, the first normal monsoon in the country since 2013. Around 85 per cent of the country’s geographical area received normal or excess rain.