Budget 2019 India: The appreciation of pulses farmers for bringing the country to self-sufficiency after years of import dependence and an expectation of a similar feat from oilseeds growers are seen as an indication of the government’s intent to focus on increasing domestic production. The
Budget allocation has been increased by 50% to Rs 3,000 crore for the Price Support Scheme (PSS) under which the government fully reimburses losses to the agencies in buying oilseeds and pulses at MSPs and later selling in open market.
“I place my appreciation for our farmers who have made India self-sufficient in pulses. I am sure they will repeat such a success even in the production of oilseeds. Our import bill shall be reduced by their Seva,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. She, however, did not announce any particular scheme for increasing domestic production. On July 3, the government raised MSPs of four main kharif oilseeds by 4-9%, highest in any category. Pulses MSPs were raised by 1-2% and paddy 3.7%.
India’s import dependence on edible oil has increased to 70% (about 150 lakh tonne per year) now from about 3% in 1992-93, said BV Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India. He said the country can save foreign exchange as the value of current level of import is about `75,000 crore per year. Since the government collects customs duty worth about Rs 30,000 crore on these oils, there should be a special fund for increasing the domestic production of oilseeds, he suggested.
Among other announcements, the government aims to increase the number of farmer producer organisations (FPOs) by 10,000 in the next five years. Currently, about 818 FPOs are in operation with a membership of 8.13 lakh farmers.
“We shall go back to basics on one count: zero budget farming. We need to replicate this innovative model,” the minister said.
The Economic Survey also recommended expansion of the concept to more areas. Currently, 1.63 lakh farmers have adopted this process in 972 villages of Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. “Reviving zero budget farming is a good plan as it can help millions of farmers, bring down their input costs and follow sustainable farming. This will help mitigate rural distress to a great extent,” Nabard chairman HK Bhanwala said.
Source: financialexpress.com