Tradologie welcomes sops announced for farmers in budget

New Delhi, Feb 1 (KNN) Tradologie, India’s leading Next Generation B2B trade and smart digital global sourcing platform has welcomed various sops and commitments announced for the farmers in the country including strengthening of  Minimum Support Price (MSP) system and sharp allocation of funds for payment to farmers in the country.

“Tradolgie a global sourcing platform for agriculture base products has been helping boost India’s exports especially to the gulf countries  Agriculture exports is no longer just about earning foreign exchange. It is also about being globally competitive, it’s about quality, it’s about adopting GAP norms, and it’s about safe food. India has achieved that capability in just a few segments such as Basmati rice and bananas.” said J K Arora, Chairman and founder of the Global sourcing digital platform Tradologie.com.

“The opportunity is much more and a concerted joint effort by industry and government can help build brands for the country in the area of food exports. This will however require seed money from public funding.” added Arora.

In a slew of steps to support the agriculture sector, Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman announced 9 measures for agriculture sector as part of inclusive development for aspirational India while presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament today which are as follows:

WAMITVA Scheme:

Sitharaman proposed to extend SWAMITVA Scheme to all States/UTs. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched SWAMITVA Scheme to bring transparency in property ownership in villages. Under the Scheme, a record of rights is being given to property owners in villages. Up till now, about 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have been provided cards.

Agricultural credit target enhanced to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY22:

To provide adequate credit to our farmers, the Finance Minister enhanced the agricultural credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY22. Sitharaman further said that the government will focus on ensuring increased credit flows to animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries.

33 per cent increase Rural Infrastructure Development Fund:

The Finance Minister also announced the enhancement of the allocation to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore.

Micro Irrigation Fund doubled:

Sitharaman proposed to double Micro Irrigation Fund, started with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore under NABARD, by augmenting it by another Rs 5,000 crore.

Operation Green Scheme – ‘TOPS’ to include 22 more perishable products:

To boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, Sitharaman proposed to increase the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOPS), to be enlarged to include 22 perishable products.

1,000 more mandis to be integrated with e-NAM:

The Finance Minister said that around 1.68 crore farmers are registered and Rs 1.14 lakh crore of trade value has been carried out through e-NAMs. Keeping in view the transparency and competitiveness that e-NAM has brought into the agricultural market, the Finance Minister proposed to integrate 1,000 more mandis with e-NAM to bring transparency and competitiveness.

APMCs to get access to Agriculture Infrastructure Fund:

The Finance Minister proposed to make available the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to APMCs for augmenting their infrastructure facilities.

To develop 5 major fishing harbours proposed:

Sitharaman proposed substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres. The Finance Minister said that to start with, 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity. Smt. Sitharaman also proposed to develop inland fishing harbours and fish-landing centres along the banks of rivers and waterways.

Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu:

Recognising the potential in Seaweed farming. The Finance Minister said that it is an emerging sector with potential to transform the lives of coastal communities – it will provide large scale employment and additional incomes. To promote seaweed cultivation, Sitharaman proposed a Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu.