The 2021-22 Budget's focus on agriculture infrastructure and modernising the farm trade has revived sentiment among agri-tech post-harvest players and farm trade companies.

However, farmers’ body, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), has expressed displeasure with the announcements, terming them a betrayal of farmers' demands to ensure fair remuneration.

Commending the Budget boost to infrastructure, Amith Aggarwal, CEO & Co-Founder, Agribazaar, said agri credits will help build world-class agri infrastructure and reduce farm-to-fork wastage. "It will usher in scientific crop growing and post-harvest facilities. Mandi digitisation will facilitate tech intervention in agriculture, leading to greater efficiency, enterprise and predictability in the sector. Agri credit will bridge the gap in rural credit and enable the development of the agriculture sector and its dependent industries."

Adani Wilmar Ltd also sees the Budget pushing up export of agri produces by enhancing the Operation Green Scheme to cover 22 perishable items. Angshu Mallick, Deputy CEO, said, "Customs duty has been increased on cotton, as well as other commodities such as maize bran, rice bran oil cake, and animal food. The Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess will help generate resources for conserving and processing agri products, which will contribute to higher income for farmers."

Fails to address larger issues

However, agri experts say the Budget has failed to address larger issues. Ajay Kakra, Leader - Food and Agriculture, PwC India, said: "It has maintained the reform momentum but lacked coverage of wider issues. Some announcements such as extension of farm credit provision to farmers, commodity expansion to Operation Green and extension of AIF to APMC did hit the target and will boost the agri supply chain for perishables and non-perishable commodities."

On the other hand, the enhanced agriculture credit target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore is seen strengthening the sector's contribution to the economy. D. Narain, CEO & MD, Bayer CropScience Ltd, said the latest initiatives complement the actions already initiated to double farmers’ incomes. "At Bayer, our vision has always been, ‘Health for all, hunger for none’. With India striving to become a $10 trillion economy by 2027, we believe a collaborative approach in agriculture and healthcare will help bring transformative changes in our society."

Anand Ramanathan, Partner, Deloitte India, said additional liquidity in the hands of the farming community will help strengthen farmgate infrastructure. "This will not only help address issues related to low productivity in agriculture, but also have a ripple effect on other sectors such as agri equipment manufacturers, agro-logistics and input providers," he added.

Meanwhile, AIKS President Ashok Dhawale, said, "The government appears to be following a strategy of squeezing the peasantry. There are no major additional allocations in agriculture or major new schemes. During the Covid lockdown period, the Indian peasant showed stellar commitment to the maintenance of food security in the country. The government, however, has paid them nothing in return. A significant rise in allocations to agriculture was expected, but the government has disappointed the peasantry."

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