What's New

Budget 2023: Agriculture and Health

Schemes for Agriculture

• Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture

• It will be built as an open source, open standard and interoperable public good.
• This will enable inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for growth of agri-tech industry and start-ups.

• Cooperation
  • A new Ministry of Cooperation was formed with a mandate to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’.
  • To realise this vision, the government has already initiated computerization of63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with an investment of 2,516 crore.
  • In consultation with all stakeholders and states, model bye-laws for PACS were formulated enabling them to become multipurpose PACS.
  • A national cooperative database is being prepared for country-wide mapping of cooperative societies.

• Atmanirbhar Horticulture Clean Plant Program
  • Atmanirbhar Clean Plant Program will be launched to boost availability of disease-free, quality planting material for high value horticultural crops.

• Global Hub for Millets: ‘Shree Anna’
  • India is the largest producer and second largest exporter of ‘Shree Anna’ in the world.
  • To make India a global hub for ‘Shree Anna‘, the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad.

• Agriculture Credit
  • The agriculture credit target will be increased to 20 lakh crores with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.

• Fisheries
  • The government will launch a new sub-scheme of PM Matsya Sampada Yojana with targeted investment of 6,000 crore to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro & small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market.

• Agriculture Accelerator Fund
  • An Agriculture Accelerator Fund will be set-up to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas.
  • The Fund will aim at bringing innovative and affordable solutions for challenges faced by farmers.

• Storage
  • The government will implement a plan to set up massive decentralised storage capacity.
  • This will help farmers store their produce and realize 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.

Health

• Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission
  • A Mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047 will be launched.
  • It will entail awareness creation, universal screening of 7 crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.

• Pharma Innovation
  • A new programme to promote research and innovation in pharmaceuticals will be taken up through centers of excellence.
  • The government will encourage industry to invest in research and development in specific priority areas.

• Medical and Nursing Colleges  
  • One hundred and fifty-seven new nursing colleges will be established in co-location with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.