Farm allocation set to go up

Allocation for drip irrigation could be doubled to at least Rs 3,000 crore from existing Rs 1,500 cr

Budget 2017-18 could bring some new schemes and allocations to marquee programmes for farmers. Agriculture ministry’s Budget could rise by Rs 10,000 crore from the 2015-16 Budget Estimate of almost Rs 35,000 crore. 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.

Allocation for drip irrigation could be doubled to at least Rs 3,000 crore from the existing Rs 1,500 crore. 

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.