Budget 2018: Eyes on Arun Jaitley's announcements for rural sector

The Budget allocation for Ministry of Agriculture and allied activities has grown by 114% since 2010-11

As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley gets down to deliver his fifth annual Budget for the 2018-19 financial year, all eyes will be on his announcements for the rural sector which is going through a downturn in the last few years. Two consecutive droughts along with a sharp fall in incomes have turned agriculture unprofitable resulting in massive agitations in several parts of the country. 

According to some estimates, in the 2017 Kharif season alone, an estimated Rs 360 billion has been denied to farmers for not being able to sell their produce at the state-mandated Minimum Support Price (MSP). The