Budget 2024: Agriculture likely to see major announcements

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Mint Primer: The fallout of India's unpredictable farm trade policy According to one of the officials, the ministry’s budget proposals include the introduction of digital cards for farmers with geo-tagging under the PM-KISAN scheme, increasing the agriculture infrastructure fund, a push to clean plant programme for horticulture crops, including grapes and lemons, and building a team of 90,000 Krishi Sakhis (women associates in the farm sector). However, there is no proposal as of now to increase farmers' income support under PM-KISAN, the official mentioned above added.

Recommendations made by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body responsible for coordinating agricultural education and research, under consideration include strengthening Krishi Vigyan Kendras, technology-based support to improve and manage horticulture crops, natural resource management, and crop science for food and nutritional security, said the first official cited above. Also Read: How Indian women farmers are becoming agripreneurs? “As many as seven cabinet notes by the agriculture ministry and five by the ICAR are in the pipeline.

Some of these have been moved and are yet to be cleared by the Union Cabinet. If these get Cabinet approval, these will be incorporated in the full budget FY25," the other official added.

Both people the mentioned above spoke under the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak. PM Kisan, a Central sector scheme announced in the 2019 interim budget, gives farmers up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support.