Farm insurance, credit access schemes expected in Budget 2017: Kakra of PwC

The PwC leader (Food and Agriculture), PwC was replying during a Business Standard live chat

In an effort to double the agriculture production by 2020, the government should introduce schemes for greater access to farm credit in Budget 2017, Ajay Kakra, leader (Food and Agriculture) PwC, said.

Kakra also underlined that Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should also introduce policies for incentives towards irrigation and insurance of farm crops. He further highlighted the need for a digitised farming economy in the longer run.

Kakra was answering questions on what announcements related to the agriculture sector are expected in Budget 2017 during a Business Standard live chat. Excerpts:

In his New Year's eve speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about giving certain concessions and incentives to farmers. It is hoped that the government will follow that up with further concessions and incentives for the agriculture sector and the agro-input industry in the coming Budget. What can we expect?

One of the key focus areas of the honourable prime minister is to provide greater access to farm credit. In my view as well this can be a key area of focus to strengthen the farming sector. As far as the agriculture input sector is concerned, access to seed, agrochemical and fertiliser is an essential requirement for ensuring farm output. The Budget can look at strengthening the distribution network of agri-inputs to ensure availability at the time of sowing or beginning of the season. The rabi sowing has been more or less normal while the offtake of fertiliser has also not been dampened due to cash crunch at the time of demonetisation. Read more