Green shoots for agriculture

Agricultural production is currently constrained. With a food security bill in the offing, India will have to push up production substantially. Towards that goal, allocation for agriculture ministry went up by 22%, bulk of the money is directed towards funding research but crucially, the FM has raised the limit for agricultural  credit from 5,75,000 cr in FY13 to 7,00,000 cr in FY14. This is likely to help farming. The other move that will go a long way is increased allocation for an integrated watershed programme. He has also unveiled a scheme to promote crop diversification in states like Punjab struggling from the side effects of Green Revolution.

However, Ramesh Chand, Director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, says the FM could have done more for agriculture sector. Some such measures include firming up the fickle export policy for various agricultural commodities, better warehousing facilities to cut down the wastage of grains, decontrol of sugar and promotion of agri-processing and agri-marketing.