Cooperative sector leaders in Gujarat hailed the Union Budget 2023-24 on Wednesday, saying it will go a long way in realising the potential of the sector and facilitate next level of growth even as some said that subsidy to farmers was insufficient and that the government could have opted to reduce tax on agri-equipment and machinery.
In the budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the target of disbursing credit to the agricultural sector is being increased to Rs 20 lakh crore with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.
The FM also allocated Rs 2,200 crore for Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Programme to make quality planting material available and an Agriculture Accelerator Fund to support start-ups in the agricultural sector. She also announced a digital public infrastructure for agriculture to provide inclusive, farmer-centric solutions.
The FM also announced a plan to increase production of extra-long staple cotton in the country through PPP mode and supporting the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad as a centre of excellence. Sitharaman also underlined that 63,000 primary agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) are being digitised by investing Rs 2,516 crore.
“We will implement a plan to set up massive decentralised storage capacity. This will help farmers store their produce and realise remunerative prices through sale at appropriate times. The government will also facilitate setting up of a large number of multipurpose cooperative societies, primary fishery societies and dairy cooperative societies in uncovered panchayats and villages in the next 5 years,” announced the FM.
Dilip Sanghani, chairman of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (Iffco), said the announcements will go a long way in unleashing the potential of the sector. “Earlier, the word ‘cooperative’ would not even be mentioned in budget speeches. The announcement to increase the agricultural credit target to Rs 20 lakh crore is a welcome step… The Finance Minister’s announcement that there will be focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries is also a signal that dairy farmers and fishermen will also be now treated at par with farmers,” he said.
Welcoming the budget, Valamji Humbal, vice-chairman of Amul (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation), said, “The focus on animal husbandry sector and PACS, we hope, means treating dairy farmers at par with agriculturalists in terms of extending credit facilities… This can make dairy-farming cost effective.” He added that if dairy farmers also get interest subvention like farmers get for the crop loans, it will further boost the animal husbandry sector.
Farmers co-operative banks also welcomed the FM’s proposal to double the limit of cash transactions without TDS to Rs 2 lakh PACS and Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks. “Doubling the limit means, PACS will be able to give upto Rs 2 lakh in hard cash to farmers towards loan advance and accept a similar amount as repayment… The move will help farmers in remote areas where there are no scheduled commercial banks,” said VM Sakhiya, MD of Rajkot District Cooperative Banks, one of the largest cooperative banks in the state.
However, some farmer leaders expressed disappointment over the government keeping the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) unchanged at Rs 6,000 per annum, nothing on the price support and GST on agricultural equipment.
“PM-KISAN was announced in 2018 and the amount has remained unchanged since then. Given the inflation in prices of inputs such as seeds, fertiliser, pesticide, diesel, labour etc., this should have been increased commensurately… If the government wants farmers to mechanise farming operations in a faster manner and adopt micro-irrigation systems, subsidy on agricultural machinery and equipment is not the solution. Instead, they can be made cheaper by exempting them from GST,” said Shyamji Mayatra, vice-president of Gujarat state unit of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh said.
Fishermen leaders welcomed the announcement of making credit available to fishermen and the Rs 6,000 crore sub-plan under the PM Matsya Sampada Yojana under which the Central government gives fishermen subsidy to purchase bigger fishing boats. “While the implementation of PMSSY has left much to be desired due to corruption, making credit available to fishermen has to be welcomed,” said Usman Gani Sherasiya, secretary of National Fishworkers’ Forum.
