Special programmes and schemes announced for dairy, acquaculture and oilseed sectors in Union budget 2024-25.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister presented the interim Union Budget for 2024-25 in the parliament. Finance minister said that government will raise the fertilizer subsidy by 10 per cent. It will also increase the agri- credit by 10 to 25 per cent. The government will normalise the GST for seeds across the states to boost the income of farmers.
Dairy sector
FM announced that a comprehensive programme for supporting dairy farmers will be formulated. Efforts are already on to control foot and mouth disease. India is the world’s largest milk producer but with low productivity of milch-animals. The programme will be built on the success of existing schemes such Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Livestock Mission, and Infrastructure Development Funds for dairy processing and animal husbandry.
Oil Seeds
Government will launch programme Aatmanirbhar Oilseeds initiative – Self-sufficiency in the production of oil seeds. Building on the initiative announced in 2022, a strategy will be formulated for achieving self-reliance in oilseeds, such as mustard, groundnut, soya bean, sesame and sunflower. This will cover research in high-yielding varieties, adoption of modern farming techniques, market linkages, procurement, value addition and crop insurance.
Aquaculture
Government has set up a separate Department for Fisheries realizing the importance of assisting fishermen. This has resulted in doubling of both inland and aquaculture production. Seafood export since 2013-14 has also doubled. Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will be stepped up to enhance aquaculture productivity from existing 3 to 5 tons per hectare, to double exports to ` 1 lakh crore and to generate 55 lakh employment opportunities in near future. Five integrated aquaparks will be setup. For promoting climate resilient activities for blue economy 2.0, a scheme for restoration and adaptation measures, and coastal aquaculture and mariculture with integrated and multi-sectoral approach will be launched.
Nano DAP
After the successful adoption of Nano Urea, application of Nano DAP on various crops will be expanded in all agro-climatic zones.
Phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas
(CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport and piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic purposes will be mandated. Financial assistance will be provided for procurement of biomass aggregation machinery to support collection.
Bio-manufacturing and Bio-foundry
For promoting green growth, a new scheme of bio-manufacturing and bio-foundry will be launched. This will provide environment friendly alternatives such as biodegradable polymers, bioplastics, biopharmaceuticals and bio-agri-inputs. This scheme will also help in transforming today’s consumptive manufacturing paradigm to the one based on regenerative principles.
Sitharam mentioned that Crop insurance has been given to 4 crore farmers under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana. This assists the Annadata in producing food for the country and the world.
She also added that 1361 e-mandis have been integrated with 3 lakh crore trading volume. For welfare of our Annadata, every year, under PM Kisan Samman Yojana, direct financial assistance is provided to 11.8 crore farmers. PM Kisan Sampada scheme has benefitted 38 lakh farmers.
