Agritech, the Propeller of Farm Prosperity

The Budget makes clear that the government is keen to address the structural issues in agriculture rather than hand out short-term palliatives

- AJAY S. SHRIRAM and RAJ VERMA

FOLLOWING THE impasse over the farm laws that led to their withdrawal, it was widely expected that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would make a host of new proposals in the Union Budget to win them back again. In fact, the Budget makes clear that the government is keen to address the structural issues in agriculture (which the farm laws were meant to address) rather than hand out short-term palliatives. On many counts, the Union Budget 2022 scores on several fronts, especially in the area of capital expenditure, which has been increased by 35.4 per cent. This is expected to boost investments from corporates and generate more jobs as well. There is a realisation that agritech has to be the engine that propels those structural changes, leading to farm prosperity. A road map has been put forward to increase rural infrastructure and connectivity to support farmers for quicker market access. This has a direct bearing on the farmer’s price realisations, particularly for perishable items.

In the Union Budget 2022, several measures have been announced that dovetail tech into the farm sector—a much needed intervention for productivity enhancement. The finance minister’s thrust on a PPP model through the involvement of new-age players should be seen in that context. Extensive use of drones is one such example. The government has maintained its commitment to the MSP regime by earmarking a whopping ₹2.37 lakh crore to procure 120.8 million metric tonnes of wheat, paddy from 16.3 million farmers through direct payment into their accounts. This is a huge step and should assuage farmers who had doubts regarding the continuity of the procurement mechanism.