Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman announced the union budget today. This year was Sitharaman’s fourth budget after 2019, 2020, and 2021. The middle-class & farmers were eagerly waiting for this budget and had high expectations.
Krishi Jagran organized a in-depth Live session on "Post Budget (2022-23) Discussion" 3:00 PM onwards. This Live session focused on the key highlights of the Budget & its direct and indirect influence on the agriculture sector.
Dr. RC Shrivastava, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University was quite satisfied with the budget 2022. He said as the year 2023 is announced as the ‘International Millets Year’, and due importance being given to the value addition & branding of millets will help the small farmers enhance their livelihood. He said these measures will attract investment in soil management, irrigation & mechanization in Millet Farming.
He was also contented with Organic Farming & Digital Agriculture getting the due weightage in Budget 2022.
Dr. Samar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Maharana Pratap Horticulture University, said budget should focus on doubling the farmers’ income & crop diversification is the key for achieving that goal. He further said Budget must focus on enhancing agri exports. Samar Singh also said investment in infrastructure can increase the income of farmers by 3-4 times’.
Prof Saket Kushwaha, Agricultural economist, Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University, was pleased with the budget however, he felt more attention could be paid to pulse & oilseed crops just like millet.
He also felt that the Ken-Betwa river linking is a wonderful initiative of the government as it will help lakhs of farmers by providing them with better irrigation and this will in turn help in increasing cropping intensity. He said that it is about time that more than production, we focus on the processing & export aspect.
Dr. B. Dayakar Rao, Agriculture Economist, being from ICAR’s Indian Institute of Millets Research expressed his excitement as the Promotion of Millets was given due importance in the Budget 2022-23. He said that millets is a very neglected commodity; As we branded Yoga and took it on international level similarly it is about time that we take indeginous crops such as millets should be taken on an International level. However he felt that R&D expenditure could be increased in Budget 2022.
