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Home2021February (Page 11)
AgroPolicy

Increase in agricultural credit, Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, Integration of mandis with e-NAM, Fishing harbours and Multipurpose Seaweed Park will strengthen the agriculture sector.

In a slew of steps to support the Agriculture Sector, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman announced 9 measures for Agriculture Sector as part of inclusive development for aspirational India while presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament in New Delhi on February 1, 2021.

 SWAMITVA Scheme

Nirmala proposed to extend SWAMITVA Scheme to all States/UTs. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched SWAMITVA Scheme to bring transparency in property ownership in villages. Under the Scheme, a record of rights is being given to property owners in villages. Up till now, about 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have been provided cards.

Agricultural credit 

To provide adequate credit to our farmers, the Finance Minister enhanced the agricultural credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY22. She further said that the Government will focus on ensuring increased credit flows to animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.

Rural Infrastructure Development Fund

The Finance Minister also announced the enhanced allocation to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore. She also proposed to double Micro Irrigation Fund, started with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore under NABARD, by augmenting it by another Rs 5,000 crore.

Operation Green Scheme

To boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, she proposed to increase the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOPS), to be enlarged to include 22 perishable products.

Integration 1,000 more mandis with e-NAM 

The Finance Minister said that around 1.68 crore farmers are registered and Rs 1.14 lakh crore of trade value has been carried out through e-NAMs. Keeping in view the transparency and competitiveness that e-NAM has brought into the agricultural market, the Finance Minister proposed to integrate 1,000 more mandis with e-NAM to bring transparency and competitiveness.

The Finance Minister proposed to make available the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to APMCs for augmenting their infrastructure facilities.

Fishing harbours and fish landing centres

Nirmala Sitharaman proposed substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres. The Finance Minister said that to start with, 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity. The Finance Minister also proposed to develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways.

 Multipurpose Seaweed Park

Recognising the potential in Seaweed farming, the Finance Minister said that it is an emerging sector with the potential to transform the lives of coastal communities – it will provide large scale employment and additional incomes. To promote seaweed cultivation, the minister proposed a Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu.

MSP

Reiterating the commitment of the Government to the welfare of farmers over the years, she said that there is a steady increase in the procurement of wheat, rice, pulses from farmers. The Finance Minister said that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime has undergone a sea change to ensure the price that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities.

Providing details of procurement and amount paid to farmers over the years, the minister said that in case of wheat, the total amount paid to farmers in 2013-2014 was Rs 33,874 crore. In 2019-2020 it was Rs 62,802 crore, and even better, in 2020-2021, this amount, paid to farmers, was Rs  75,060 crore.  The number of wheat growing farmers that were benefitted increased in 2020-21 to 43.36 lakh as compared to 35.57 lakh in 2019-20.

For paddy, the amount paid in 2013-14 was Rs 63,928 crore. In 2019-2020 this increased Rs 1,41,930 crore. Even better, in 2020-2021, this is further estimated to increase to Rs 172,752 crore.  The farmers benefitted increased from 1.24 crore in 2019-20 to 1.54 crore in 2020-21. In the same vein, in case of pulses, the amount paid in 2013-2014 was Rs 236 crore. In 2019-20 it increased to Rs 8,285 crore. Now, in 2020-2021, it is at Rs 10,530 crore, a more than 40 times increase from 2013-14. The receipts to cotton farmers have seen a stupendous increase from Rs 90 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 25,974 crore (as on 27th January 2021).

 

Increase in agricultural credit, Rural Infrastructure Development

AgroPolicy

In order to ensure better procurement from farmers, a request was made to increase the storage capacities in Uttar Pradesh.

The Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, Sudhanshu Pandey along with Chairman & Managing Director, Food Corporation Sanjiv Kumar called upon the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath on January 29, 2021. Pandey apprised the Chief Minister about the various steps taken by the Government like the revival of sick sugar mills and fortification of rice among others. He also held discussions with CM on important issues involving procurement and storage of foodgrains in Uttar Pradesh.

The Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh appreciated the efforts made by FCI and the State Government officials which led to record procurement of Paddy during KMS 2020-21 and procurement of Wheat during COVID-19. In order to ensure better procurement from farmers, a request was made to increase the storage capacities in Uttar Pradesh. 

DFPD reviewed the procurement of Paddy and Rice during the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season 2020-21. He appreciated the record procurement of over 63 Lakh Metric Tonnes Paddy from over 12 lakh farmers in the state and also lauded the efforts of the State Government and FCI in the digitization of the rice procurement and billing system which has led to immense savings and faster cash flow for all the procurement agencies.

He further requested the State Government to provide space in the Mandis so that a scheme can be brought out for the creation of modern SILOs for the storage of grains. Secretary DFPD also reviewed the implementation of the One Nation One Ration Card Scheme in UP under which the distribution of highly subsidized food grains is enabled through nation-wide portability of ration cards through the implementation of IT-driven systems by the installation of ePoS devices at Fair Price Shops.

 

In order to ensure better procurement from

Trade

During 2019-20, India exported 4,84,000 tonnes of chili and chili products valued at Rs.6211.70 crores

India is the world’s largest exporter of chili and turmeric, the exports of which have recorded steady progress, over the years. During 2019-20, India exported 4,84,000 tonnes of chili and chili products valued at Rs 6211.70 crores which contributed to more than 40 per cent in volume and 29 per cent in value of India’s total spice exports. Turmeric held a share of 11 per cent in volume and 6 per cent in value of the export basket, with the export of 1,36,000 tonnes valued at Rs 1216.40 crores.

Spices Board conducted the Virtual Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) for Chili and Turmeric, with a focus on Andhra Pradesh, which saw participation from 245 stakeholders. This was the 14th BSM conducted by the Board in FY 2020-21.  

Highlighting the success of the BSMs in terms of better price discoveries by the remote areas and giving accessibility to farmers and farmer producer groups, D Sathiyan, Chairman and Secretary, Spices Board stated that spices items in 225 categories were exported to 185 countries in the last year. He stressed on demand for value addition of spices and stated that the Spices Parks are available for entrepreneurs for availing processing and warehousing facilities.

Spices Board and state Agri/Horti Departments have been putting in increasing efforts through various schemes and programs in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region which is a production hub of spices like chili, turmeric and pepper.

During 2019-20, India exported 4,84,000 tonnes of

E-commerce, Machinery – Post-harvesting

Equipped with state of the art technology the plant is aimed to expand SOILTECH range of products from Rotary Tillers, Disc Harrows and Disc Ploughs. 

SIETZ technologies India Pvt Ltd, commenced operations at its newly upgraded manufacturing plant at Prithla Industrial Area in Haryana expanding its capacity to manufacture wider range of its farm implement portfolio under SOILTECH brand. Equipped with state of the art technology the plant is aimed to expand SOILTECH range of products from Rotary Tillers, Disc Harrows, Disc Ploughs & MB ploughs to new products such as Super Seeders Reversible Ploughs, Laser Levelers and Mulchers in the coming months. The new plant has advanced manufacturing assembly line all the way from fabrication to the final testing. 

Speaking on the occasion, Kranti Deepak Sharma, CEO – Sietz Technologies India Pvt Ltd, “Farmers have started using advanced machines to increase quality and productivity of various crops like Potato Planters, rotavators, diggers, laser levelers etc. We aim to increase our customer’s access to best-in-class agriculture implements and after-sales service. We are confident that our existing and new product range will help farmers to increase their crop productivity.”

SIETZ is also looking at expanding its operations across India from its current markets in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other regions in North India. The organization has a dedicated team to build their brand by providing quality and after sales, service Support.

SIETZ also aims to give their Spare Parts at competitive prices to serve & facilitate Farmers.

 

 

 

Equipped with state of the art technology

Acts & Schemes – Centre, R&D, Seeds

Investments in Research in agriculture are not addressed, especially, since research & innovation is one of the 6 pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and there is a need to scale up private sector investments in agricultural research. 

 According to Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) the Union Budget 2021-22 is a status quo budget for agriculture in general and for seed industry in particular.

Agriculture contributed significantly to our successful fight against COVID. But the sector did not get the needed attention in the budget. No transformative measures have been proposed.

Disappointments:

Investments in Research in agriculture are not addressed, especially, since research & innovation is one of the 6 pillars of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and there is a need to scale up private sector investments in agricultural research. There is an urgent need to step up investments in research into agri biotechnology, seed technology and modern technologies for farmers. Seed industry was expecting restoration of 200% tax deduction of research expenses but it has not been met.

The industry expected a major project to invest in scaling up domestic oilseeds production through incentives for farmers, use of modern technologies in crops like mustard, soybean and ground nut, etc would be announced with an eye on reducing huge imports of edible oils. No such project was announced.

The industry also expected some major announcement of investment to push up agricultural exports to 100B$ in the next 4-5 years. A special economic corridor and cluster approach investments would have been in order.

The industry also expected some major announcement of investments to scale up mechanization of agriculture to address high labour costs that farmers are incurring but no such measures have been taken.

According to FSII following are the positive points in the union budget 2021:

  • Increase in agricultural credit to Rs. 16.54 lakh crores. Will help farmers in accessing more credit.
  • Infrastructure oriented budget. Rs. 40,000 cr for rural infrastructure is a good measure. Will help villages and will indirectly benefit farmers.
  • 10, 000 cr for micro irrigation is a good measure.
  • Including 22 perishable crops in Operation Green is good. It will help farmers.
  • Increasing import duty on cotton is a good measure that should help improving domestic prices although we are no longer a major cotton importer. We are actually the largest exporter in the world, courtesy Bt Cotton driven increase in cotton production.
  • Output marketing related measures like extending ENAM to 1000 more Mandis and making Agri Infrastructure Fund available for upgrading infrastructure in APMCs are good. This will also help farmers.

 

Investments in Research in agriculture are not

AgroPolicy, Finance

The Economic Survey notes that in 2019-20, India’s agricultural and allied exports amounted to approximately Rs. 252 thousand crores. 

 India’s agricultural sector has shown its resilience amid the adversities of COVID-19 induced lockdowns. The Agriculture and Allied activities clocked a growth of 3.4 per cent at constant prices during 2020-21(first advance estimate) says the Economic Survey. The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in Parliament.

The Economic Survey observes that as per the Provisional Estimates of National Income released by CSO on May 29, 2020, the share of Agriculture and Allied Sectors in Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country at current prices is 17.8 per cent for the year 2019-20. 

Record Foodgrain Production

According to the Economic Survey in the Agriculture year 2019-20 (as per Fourth Advance Estimates), total food grain production in the country is estimated at record 296.65 million tonnes which is higher by 11.44 million tonnes than the production of food grain of 285.21 million tonnes achieved during 2018-19. 

Agricultural Exports

The Ecnomic Survey notes that in 2019-20, India’s agricultural and allied exports amounted to approximately Rs. 252 thousand crores. The major export destinations were USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh. The top agriculture and related products exported from India were marine products, basmati rice, buffalo meat, spices, non-basmati rice, cotton raw, oil meals, sugar, castor oil and tea. While India occupies a leading position in the global trade of the aforementioned agri-products, its total agri-export basket accounts for a little over 2.5 per cent of world agri-trade.

Minimum Support Price

The Economic Survey says that “The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced that MSPs would be kept at the level of 1.5 times of the cost of production. On the basis of the above-mentioned principle, Government recently increased the MSPs for all mandated kharif and rabi crops for 2020-21season.” 

Agricultural Reforms

On recent agricultural reforms, the Economic Survey says “The three agricultural reform legislations are designed and intended primarily for the benefit of small and marginal farmers which constitute around 85 per cent of the total number of farmers and are the biggest sufferer of the regressive APMC regulated market regime. The newly introduced farm laws herald a new era of market freedom which can go a long way in the improvement of farmer welfare in India.”

The Economic Survey notes that in 2019-20,

Acquaculture, AgroPolicy

5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity.

 In the Union Budget 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres. The Finance Minister said that to start with, 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity. Finance Minister Sitharaman also proposed to develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways. 

Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu

Recognising the potential in Seaweed farming. The Finance Minister said that it is an emerging sector with the potential to transform the lives of coastal communities – it will provide large scale employment and additional incomes. To promote seaweed cultivation, the FM proposed a Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu.

5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai,

Animal Health, Finance, Live Stock

Poultry Healthcare division and Animal healthcare division posts 32 per cent and 4 per cent growth

Leading animal healthcare company, Hester Biosciences Ltd reported net profit of Rs. 13.29 crore for the Q3FY21 ended December 2020 as against net profit of Rs. 7.73 crore in the corresponding period last year – growth of 72 per cent. Net sales for the Q3FY21 was reported at Rs. 52.82 crore, growth of 22 per cent as compared to net sales of Rs 43.39 crore in the corresponding period last year. EPS for Q3FY was reported at Rs. 15.62 per share.

Company is able to maintain healthy margins; EBITDA Margin was reported at 38.97% while Net Profit margin further improved to 25.16 per cent in Q3FY21. The Board has authorised the management to explore appropriate financing alternatives for the expansion activities for an aggregate outlay of Rs 200 Crore.

Poultry Healthcare division reported sales growth of 32% while Animal healthcare division reported sales growth of 4% Y-o-Y in Q3FY21. Vaccine division (Poultry and animal divisions) reported growth of 20% in Q3 FY21 and 12 per cent in 9M FY21 as compared to the corresponding period last year. Domestic sales have registered a growth of 43% in Q3FY21 and 20% in 9MFY21 while the export sales have reduced by 51% in Q3FY21 and 5% in 9MFY21. While export orders have continued to pour in, the higher demand within India compelled us to divert the production for domestic sales. 

Hester is also evaluating expansion opportunities in manufacturing and distribution of Animal Health Products and Biologicals, worldwide. In view of the various vaccine opportunities within India, including those of Brucella and LSD vaccines, till our expansion activities go on-stream, temporarily, Hester will focus on the Indian market

The outcome of the tender for Brucella vaccine under the National Animal Disease Control Program of the Government of India is awaited. Sales through this tender are expected to commence from March 2021. There has been no impact on our sales due to the current Bird Flu situation in India.

 

 

Poultry Healthcare division and Animal healthcare division

Acts & Schemes – Centre, Finance

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2021 speech stated that the MSP for paddy has been doubled in FY 2021-22. Around1.54 crore farmers have benefited from MSP in paddy and wheat in FY21 vs 1.24 crore YoY 

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2021 speech has reiterated that the government is committed to the betterment of India’s farmers. She stated that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime has undergone a change to assure a price that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities. 

The Finance Minister also announced an increase in agriculture credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY 2021-22. The FM added that the MSP for paddy has been doubled this year. Around 1.54 crore farmers have benefited from MSP in paddy and wheat in FY21 vs 1.24 crore YoY. In the case of wheat, the amount paid to farmers in 2019-2020 was Rs 62,802 crore and in 2020-2021 it was further increased to Rs 75,060 crore. For paddy in FY21 seen at Rs 1.72 crore vs Rs 1.41 lakh crore in FY20. Amount paid to farmers for pulses in FY21 seen at Rs 10,530 crore vs Rs 8,285 crore in FY20. 

Sitharaman said that the amount paid to cotton farmers has gone up to Rs 25,975 crore in 2020-21 as on January 2021 – up from Rs 90 crore in 2013-14.

Strenthening of APMCs

FM has reassured farmers that MSP system will continue and will be further strengthened. Reiterating its commitment to develop APMCs, the government has announced to allow utilisation of Rs one lakh crore infrastructure fund for the infrastructure development of state-controlled mandis. 1,000 more Mandis to be integrated into the E-NAM market place. 

Development of Fishing hubs

 FM announced in the budget that five major fishing hubs, including Chennai, Kochi and Paradip, to be developed .A multipurpose seaweed park will be established in Tamil Nadu.

 

Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget