Agriculture

Riding on a possible supply disruption of foodgrains - especially wheat -- due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, wheat's prices have hit a record high in India. Both Russia and Ukraine are major producers of wheat. In the key market of Madhya Pradesh's Indore, the foodgrain was sold at Rs 2,400 per quintal against Rs 2,000-2,100 until recently.

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Dr Abhilaksh Likhi assured the Start Ups and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) that they would be considered for providing equity grants, management costs, and other available support measures.Dr Likhi was speaking at the inauguration of 'Food, Agriculture and Livelihood' fortnight at the India Pavilion in EXPO2020 Dubai on Thursday.

In a post-Budget report, Credit Suisse said 2020 saw fall in import duties, mainly for agriculture, textiles, metals and autos. Several sectors have been on the government radar for a while, as seen in the imposition or hiking of import duties over the past few years. It added that much of the increase in FY22 spending was from spending induced by the pandemic: Food subsidy, NREGA spending and vaccines. Some, like higher fertiliser subsidy, should also roll off.

"The procurement of wheat in Rabi 2021-22 and the estimated procurement of paddy in Kharif 2021-22 will cover 1,208 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of wheat and paddy from 163 lakh farmers. A whopping Rs 2.37 lakh crore will be credited as direct payment of minimum support price (MSP) value to their accounts," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech.

Sanjeev Sanyal said this while responding to questions on the economic rebound in the post-pandemic era. His optimism is seconded by the economic survey data, as during both the lockdown period, the agriculture sector was seen as the least affected sector among others. The economic survey 2021-22 says that the gross value added (GVA) growth in the agriculture sector did not have a negative trend even during the pandemic time.

Five states set to go for Assembly polls is another reason why the agriculture sector could be in focus during the Budget. "Committed to increasing farmers' income, the government of India can come up with various plans in Budget 2022-23 in spite of the recent withdrawal of three farm laws late last year," it said. Further, it is expected that the Centre may announce something in order to achieve self-reliance in edible oil and pulses.

The equity round was led by Asia Impact SA, Lightrock India and Quona Capital. The agritech platform also raised debt financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), among others. Arya.ag connects sellers and buyers of agriproduce, providing complete assurance on quantity, quality and payments. The platform also claims to eliminate distress sales of farmers' produce by enabling farmgate storage and seamless finance options, offering farmers the freedom of when and whom to sell to

Under the Soya Meal Stock Control Order, 2021, issued with immediate effect from December 23, the stock limit has been set in consultation with the Central Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, wherein plant/miller/processors are allowed a maximum stock of 90 days production. They would also have to declare storage locations. "For trading companies/traders/private chaupals, only government registered enterprises, a maximum stock of 160 MT with a defined and declared storage location is allowed," said a release from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

The MSP for fair average quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased to Rs 10,590 per quintal for 2022 season from Rs 10,335 per quintal in 2021 and the MSP for ball copra has been increased to Rs 11,000 per quintal for 2022 season from Rs 10,600 per quintal in 2021. This is to ensure a return of 51.85 per cent for milling copra and 57.73 per cent for ball copra over the pan India weighted average cost of production.

As per a Ministry of Finance notification, these agricultural commodities include wheat, paddy (non-basmati) chana, mustard seeds and its derivatives, soya bean and its derivatives, crude palm oil and moong. Industry insiders opined that the move is in consonance with the Centre's goal to drive down inflation while maintaining a growth oriented liquidity stand.