Farmers' body unhappy with Union Budget

Describing the Union Budget 2009-10 as "halfhearted approach" to spur farm growth, farming community today said that the Budget has failed to meet their expectations.

"The Budget does not mention any serious attempt on the part of the centre government towards bringing another green revolution in the country," Bhartiya Kisan Union President Balbir Singh Rajewal said today.

Rajewal said that Budget did not allocate sufficient amount of money for carrying out research and development activity in the field of farm to boost the production yield. "We were expecting that the government should have allocated funds for R&D activity which is imperative in the wake of stagnant yield," he said.

Farmers were also upset over the "condition" fixed by the budget for another one per cent interest subvention in the crop loan. "The government should have not fixed any condition like repaying loan for availing 6 per cent rate of interest on short term crop loan for farmers," he said.