Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs has informed that Agriculture sector representatives submit budget wishlist to promote agriculture-start-ups, particularly in rural regions, expand micro-irrigation, treat solar energy as third crop to augment income of farmers and enact labor reforms to push creation of off-farm jobs, were few of the suggestions which have been submitted by the representatives of the agricultural and rural development sectors to boost investment in agricultural sector and enhance market access to farmers. The Ministry of Finance holds Pre-Budget Consultations with the stakeholders including representatives from agriculture and allied sectors every year. This year, the Pre-Budget Consultation with ‘Agriculture and Rural Development Group’ was held on 11th June, 2019. The proposals and suggestions received from the stakeholders of agriculture and rural development group covered a wide range of issues including:
- Need to incentivize ‘Solar’ as a crop that farmers can grow. Provide capital subsidy as DBT to farmers for ‘solar rooftop’ panels which can generate incomes for farmers by linking to grids.
- ‘Rural start ups’- Gram start-ups can be set up with mentorship given by companies, for which initial support for pilot projects can be provided by the State.
- To reduce groundwater depletion, measures may be taken especially with respect to Agricultural Land leasing Act. Triple the quantum of investment for micro irrigation and solar pumps. Solar pumps can be given to scale up irrigation in deprived regions.
- Diversification of livelihoods should be the focus to prevent distress migration. Focus should be on employment generation in non-farm sector. To promote employment, handicrafts and handlooms package can be introduced in rural areas especially the North East.
The proposals and suggestions received from the stakeholders are taken into consideration in preparation of the Union Budget.