Attention being paid to “Soil and Water” Increase in Credit Supply

Agriculture has been identified as one of the biggest challenges facing the country in the first independent budget presented by the central Modi government. Though anxiety has been expressed in the budget as “Agricultural production under stress”, very little has been done about a separate policy and financial provisions to tackle this challenge. As expected, priority is given to the corporate world. Announcements about organic farming, micro irrigation, agricultural value addition, strengthening of water resources as well as establishment of a national agricultural produce market system will be very encouraging for farmers. It has been made clear that the usual provisions for priority sectors like agriculture, education, health, MGNREGA and rural infrastructure will remain constant, but encouragement is not provided for drought eradication, insurance cover based on weather, to the agriculture sector under the food security scheme, to industries allied with agriculture, or food processing industries.