According to PM Modi, private innovation and investment are avoiding the agricultural sector, resulting in low participation of India’s youth in the agricultural sector compared to other sectors. Drawing an analogy to the open platform of UPI, the PM talked about the Digital Public Infrastructure platform in the agriculture sector and noted the immense possibilities of investment and innovation in agri-tech domains.
His regime budget has been called a budget for “Gaon, Gareeb, and Kisan,” and the agricultural budget, which was less than ₹25,000 crore in 2014, has increased to over ₹1,25,000 crore today.
India’s agricultural sector remained distressed for a long time after Independence because of the country’s dependence on the outside world for food security, but farmers transformed the situation. They did it by not only making the nation “atmanirbhar” (self-sufficient) but also by being capable of exporting food grains, said the PM.
“Today India is exporting many agricultural products, but the goal should not be limited to rice or wheat when it comes to self-sufficiency or export,” he said.
The PM said that the introduction of accelerator funds for agri-tech startups should attract youth to move forward and achieve goals.
India is home to more than 3000 agribusiness startups today, compared to next to nothing nine years ago, he said.
PM Modi gave examples of expenditures of ₹17,000 crores in 2021–22 for the import of pulses, ₹25,000 crores for the import of value-added food products, and ₹1.5 lakh crore spent on the import of edible oils in 2021–22. He stated that the total value of agricultural imports was approximately Rs 2 lakh crore.
The PM touched upon the International Year of Millets and said that its international identity is opening a gateway to the global market for Indian farmers. “The country has now identified coarse grains as Shri Anna in this budget,” the Prime Minister said.
According to the PM, the budget will help make India a leading player in the “Global Green Energy” market, and the vehicle scrapping policy and green growth strategy are the two main aspects.