Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented the state budget for 2022-23 on Wednesday. A separate agriculture budget has been presented for the first time in the history of the state budget. Agriculture was given a special place in the three-hour-long budget speech. Gehlot emphasized the importance of promoting agriculture and animal husbandry.
Farmers in Rajasthan's tribal areas had high hopes for the budget; in fact, on behalf of the tribal community's small and marginal farmers, VAAGDHARA, a civil society organization, had raised issues related to agricultural development at various levels and shared the suggestions with the Chief Minister.
In the pre-budget meeting organized by the Agriculture Department for the tribal area in the Udaipur division and in a pre-budget meeting with civil society organizations, suggestions were shared for the agriculture budget through a detailed proposal.
Along with this, various demands were conveyed by the Tribal Swaraj organizations to CM through letters. Some of the demands of the farmers of the tribal communities were the provision of mini kits of improved variety seed of pulses and vegetable for promoting mixed cropping, cultivation of traditional small and minor millets, promotion of organic manure, the establishment of seed testing laboratory to name a few.
The good news is that many demands put across by the tribal community have been considered by the Chief Minister and have been included in the budget.
From organic farming, the centre of excellence for millet, mini kits of improved varieties of seeds of vegetables and pulses, the grant for beekeeping, to increasing the subsidy amount on milk from Rs 2 a liter to Rs 5 a liter for cattle farmers, increasing the number of dairy booths, Gehlot government has included many demands put across by tribal farmers of the state.
“Organic farming mission will be started to promote organic farming in the state. 600 crores will be spent on this. This will benefit 4 lakh farmers. Under this 3.80 lakh hectare area will be covered. For organic certification, a lab will be set up at the divisional level, on which Rs 15 crore will be spent,” said the CM.
He added the government will spend Rs 100 crore on the horticulture mission at the same time; In this, a grant will be given to farmers to develop fruit orchards in 2 years at 100 crores to benefit 15000 farmers.
One of the key demands of the tribal farmers of the tribal area was the protection of their crops from stray animals, this demand has been included in the budget, and CM Ashok Gehlot announced the Rajasthan Crop Protection Mission in which 35,000 farmers will get grants for fencing of fields.
Another demand was of mini kits of improved variety seed of pulses and vegetable, this too was included in the budget. Besides, green fodder seed mini-kits will be provided to 3 lakh cattle farmers.
One of the major concerns of the farmers was the limited scope of dairy in the tribal community, so to promote this, the government has announced the increase in the subsidy amount on milk from Rs 2 a liter to Rs 5 per liter for cattle farmers and 5000 new dairy booths.
When it comes to millets, the geographical climate and soil of the tribal area are apt for the cultivation of millet, and for long there has been a demand to promote millets so that farmers in the tribal belt can grow them extensively, finally, in this budget, the state government has announced Rs 100 crore for Rajasthan Millet Promotion Mission.
