Economic Survey 2023-24 presented in the Parliament today by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister states that smallholder farmers need to move to high-value agriculture.
The survey calls for enhancing private sector investment in agriculture which it is vital to provide impetus to the sector. Investment in technology, production methods, marketing infrastructure, and reduction in post-harvest losses need to be scaled up. A greater focus on post-harvest infrastructure and the development of the food processing sector can reduce wastage/loss and increase the length of storage, ensuring better prices for the farmers.
The Indian agriculture sector provides livelihood support to about 42.3 per cent of the population and has a share of 18.2 per cent in the country’s GDP at current prices. The sector has been buoyant, which is evident from the fact that it has registered an average annual growth rate of 4.18 per cent at constant prices over the last five years and as as per provisional estimates for 2023-24, the growth rate of the agriculture sector stood at 1.4 percent.
To promote efficiency in agriculture marketing, and improve price discovery, the government implemented the e-NAM Scheme and as of 14th March 2024, more than 1.77 Crore farmers and 2.56 Lakh traders have been registered on the e-NAM portal. The Government of India launched the scheme to form and promote 10,000 FPOs in 2020 with a budget outlay of ₹6.86 thousand crore till 2027-28. As of 29 February 2024, 8,195 FPOs have registered under the new FPO scheme, and equity grants of ₹157.4 crore were released to 3,325 FPOs. Credit guarantee cover worth ₹278.2 crore was issued to 1,185 FPOs.
Economic Survey shows that to provide social security to the most vulnerable farmer families, the Government implements Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojna (PMKMY). The scheme offers a monthly pension of ₹3,000 to the enrolled farmers on the attainment of 60 years of age, based on a nominal premium between ₹55 to ₹200 per month paid by the applicant (in the age group 18 to 40 years) subject to exclusion criteria. As of 07 July 2024, 23.41 lakh farmers have enrolled under the scheme.