 "Budget 2021, agriculture")
The Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Ministry has got 5.63 per cent more budget allocation at Rs 1,31,531 crore for 2021-22 and half of it would be spent on the flagship PM-KISAN scheme and slightly higher funds are made available for agri-infra fund and irrigation programmes.
The ministry's revised budget is estimated to be Rs 1,24,519 crore for the ongoing 2020-21 fiscal year, according to the Budget 2021 document presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Of the total allocation made for the next fiscal year to the ministry, Rs 1,23,017.57 crore has been allocated to the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and Rs 8,513.62 crore to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education.
As per the Budget document, the allocation for 10 central schemes has been increased marginally to Rs 1,05,018.81 crore for 2021-22 from the revised estimate of Rs 1,03,162.30 crore for the current fiscal year.
Among the key central schemes, a major allocation of Rs 65,000 crore has been made for PM-KISAN, under which the government provides Rs 6,000 to each beneficiary in three equal installments to registered farmers.
The allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Yojana (PM-AASHA) has been increased to Rs 1,500 crore for the next fiscal year from the revised estimate of Rs 996 crore for 2020-21.
Similarly, the allocation for formation and promotion of 10,000 farmer producer organisations (FPOs) has been increased to Rs 700 crore from Rs 250 crore, while agriculture infrastructure fund has been raised to Rs 900 crore from Rs 208 crore.
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Apart from ten central schemes, the government has also allocated funds for regulatory and autonomous bodies.
Besides, the government has allocated funds for 18-odd central sponsored schemes under which funds are provided to states and union territories for implementation.
For instance, the allocation for Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)- Per Drop More Crop has been increased substantially to Rs 4,000 crore from Rs 2,563 crore in the revised estimated for 2020-21.
With regard to other related ministries, the government has increased allocation to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to Rs 4,820.82 crore from Rs 3,918.31 crore in the revised estimate for the current fiscal year.
The allocation for Food Processing Industries Ministry has also been increased marginally to Rs 1,308.66 crore for 2021-22 from Rs 1,247.42 crore, the document added.
