Budgets, subsidies for many key agri-schemes cut

The budget of the Ministry of Agriculture has been slightly increased in the interim budget for FY 2024-25, but budgets and subsidies for many important agriculture-related schemes have been cut. Despite being an election year, the government has focused on the fiscal situation rather than enticing announcements.

The budget for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in 2024-25 is Rs 1.27 crore as against Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the previous budget. Similarly, the total budget for agriculture and allied sectors is Rs 1.47 lakh crore as against Rs 1.44 lakh crore for 2023-24.

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman repeatedly mentioned the food givers, the farmers, as the basis of the country's growth. But the budget of many agriculture-related schemes has been cut. Many of these schemes were responsible for protecting farmers from the market.

The budget of the Prime Minister's Crop Insurance Scheme, which protects farmers from the weather, has been cut. The budget for the scheme is Rs 14,600 crore, which is lower than the revised estimate of Rs 15,000 crore in 2023-24.

An increase of Rs 6,000 per annum was expected to be available to farmers under PM-Kisan. But the government has not increased the budget of the scheme. As in the previous year, a budget of Rs 60,000 crore has been allocated for the PM Kisan Yojana. Clearly, the PM Kisan has no plans to expand the scope of the farmer or increase its funds.

Budget has not been allocated for Market Intervention Scheme & Price Support Scheme initiated to protect farmers from market fluctuations. In 2022-23, the scheme had received a budget of Rs 4,000 crore. The current fiscal also has a revised estimate of Rs 40 crore. The government had allocated Rs 800 crore in the last budget for distribution of pulses in the states. But this time, the scheme has not received a budget either. 

The government has reduced the budget of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Man Dhan Yojana from the revised estimate of Rs 138 crore to Rs 100 crore. The budget of the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Yojana (PM ASHA) has been reduced from a revised estimate of Rs 2,200 crore in 2023- 24 to Rs 1,737 crore for the coming fiscal. The budget for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana is Rs 729 crore as against Rs 923 crore in FY 2023-24.

The last budget had allocated Rs 955 crore for the plan to set up 10,000 FPOs in the country. But in the next fiscal budget, it has been reduced to Rs 582 crore. A scheme to promote natural farming has also seen budget cuts. The budget of the National Mission on Natural Farming has been reduced from Rs 459 crore to Rs 366 crore for FY 2024-25.

Cuts in subsidies

For the 2024-25 budget, the central government has tried to reduce the subsidy burden. The interim budget for 2024-25 has provided Rs 1.64 lakh crore for fertilizer subsidy as against Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the previous budget and Rs 1.89 lakh crore in the revised estimates. Nutrient-based subsidy is Rs 60,300 crore in the revised estimates for the current fiscal while it is pegged at Rs 45,000 crore for the coming fiscal.

The provision for urea subsidy is Rs 1.19 lakh crore, which is lower than the budget estimate of Rs 1.31 lakh crore for 2023-24. The government has limited food subsidy to Rs 2.05 lakh crore in 2024-25, while the revised estimate for the current fiscal have increased it to Rs 2.12 lakh crore.