Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced a slew of measures for the agriculture sector as she presented the Union Budget.
She said the farm procurement value for the current financial year is Rs 2.37 lakh crore.
Sitharaman said the government would promote chemical-free farming across the country, with the first stage to focus on areas around the River Ganga.
She said procurement of the wheat and Rabi crop would cover 1,208 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers.
Noting that 2023 has been recognised as the year of millets, Sitharaman said the government would support post-harvest value addition for millet crops.
She declared the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) would provide a fund with blended capital to fund startups working in the agricultural field and rural enterprises relevant for the farm produce value chain.
Sitharaman said the government would promote the use of the Kisan drone programme to encourage use of UAVs for land surveys, crop assessment and insecticide spraying.
Sitharaman said state governments would be encouraged to revise the syllabi of agricultural universities to meet needs of natural, zero-budget and organic farming.
She said the Ken-Betwa link project would be taken up, which would help irrigate up to 9.08 hectares of farmland.
