The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that in order to ensure future increases in agriculture output and double the farmers’ income by 2022, focus should be on higher agriculture productivity especially in view of the limitation on expanding crop area,. The Finance Minister said it is possible by leveraging technology-especially for high yielding and resistant variety seeds and efficient utilization of water for irrigation, adapt latest IT to increase resilience to nature by phasing sowing, watering and harvesting among others. He said that in order to increase the price benefits to the farmers, it is necessary that the farmers are provided timely market information and developing software applications, both computer and mobile based, that link farmers to consumers. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was speaking at his First Pre -Budget Consultative Meeting with the representatives of Agriculture Groups here today.

The Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley further said along with use of latest technology to raise productivity, there is also need to revisit the incentive structure of farming, to focus to reduce wastages and enhance earnings as well as to improve marketing of farm produce. The Finance Minister said that for efficient implementation of the National Agriculture Market, there is need to integrate the more than 550 regulated Mandis in the country by 2017 for which the States need to reform the APMC Act.

Along with the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley, the Pre-Budget Consultative Meeting with the representatives of Agriculture Groups was also attended among others by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Ashok Lavasa, Finance Secretary, Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, DEA, Ms Anjuli Chib Duggal, Secretary, Financial Services, Shri Shobhana K. Pattanayak, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Shri Devendra Choudhry, Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Shri Ramesh Chand, Director NCAP, and Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), Shri G. S. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission and Shri Suresh Pal, Member, CACP.

The representatives of the different Agriculture Groups present during the meeting included Shri Raju Shetti, President Swabhimani Paksha, Dr. Satya Narayana, Chief Executive, National Cooperative Union of India(NCUI), Shri Venkatrao Nadagouda, Federation of Oilseeds Cooperative Growers of India, Shri D. Vinod Sivappa, President, United Planters Association of South India, Dr. Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, Shri Siraj Chaudhary, Chairman & MD, Cargill India Pvt. Ltd., Shri R. Parthasarathy, GIDR, Shri Bojja Dashratha Rami Reddy, Secretary General, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association, Dr. K.V. Prabhu, Joint Director (Research), IARI, Shri Devesh Roy, IFPRI, Shri Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj, Shri Harish Damodaran, Indian Express, Shri Satish Chander, DG, Fertilizer Association of India, Dr. Y. Sivaji, Chairman, Kisan Foundation, Shri Rakesh Kapur, Chairman FAI, Shri Abhijit Sen, CESP, Shri Surjit S. Bhalla, O(X)US Investment and Shri Mukul Maheshwary, Agriculture Farm among others.

Many suggestions were received from the representatives of different Agriculture Groups. Major suggestions include due to demonitisation, there is urgent need to provide sufficient funds to District Cooperative Banks where most of the farmers have their bank accounts, cargo hubs and dry ports should be encouraged in the production centre of agri-products. Other suggestions include it should be made mandatory for Agriculture Universities to start Agriculture Marketing Research Department, new schemes to bail-out farmers from debt be announced in the forthcoming Budget and banks be directed to implement scheme of differential rate of interest to agriculture sector both in letter and spirit among others.

Other suggestions included announcement of awards for those who do new technological innovations in agriculture sector, cold chain provision for horticulture and minor vegetables, higher allocation in Budget for agriculture in the Budget as 52% of India’s population is based on agriculture and allied sector.

National Agriculture Market reforms to integrate regulated mandis and improve farmer price benefits through technology and market access. Prioritise agricultural productivity and farmer incomes through technology (high-yield seeds, water-efficient irrigation, IT tools linking farmers and consumers) and revisit farming incentives to reduce wastage and improve marketing. Implement a National Agriculture Market by integrating over five hundred regulated mandis via State APMC Act reforms. Operational suggestions include increased funds to District Cooperative Banks post demonetisation, cargo hubs/dry ports at production centres, Agriculture Marketing Research Departments at universities, debt-relief schemes, enforced differential interest rates for agriculture, innovation awards, cold-chain investment, and larger budgetary support for agriculture.