Government to promote Indian vegetable supply chain startups; allots Rs 1.52 lakh crore in union  budget focused on agriculture sector 

The government of India allocates Rs 1.52 lakh crore in the Union budget for 2024-25 to help and promote startups across the vegetable supply chain. This budget aims to help the agriculture sector to grow in size. The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced that they have drawn a road map to develop India with nine priorities agenda, including resilience and productivity in agriculture. Here we are talking about Government to promote Indian vegetable supply chain startups; allots Rs 1.52 lakh crore in union budget focused on agriculture sector.

The government takes the initiative to promote farmer-producer organizations and startups for the vegetable supply chain. These SMEs compete in the agriculture landscape at low commissions, and through this scheme, the government will promote these startups and offer them strong connections,  storage, and marketing.

These startups will be provided with digital public infrastructure for agriculture.  Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that the DPI for the agriculture sector will be out after a year-long pilot. The government will take a crop survey using this digital public infrastructure in 400 districts across India for the ongoing Kharif season. The plan is to collect the details of 6 crore farmers and their land parcels through DPI. The farmers will then be bought under the ambit of the farm and land registry. 

This digital public infrastructure will also provide Kishan credit cards to farmers. The government previously launched a pilot of agricultural DPI to digitize the area enumeration of crops at the field level. Inc42 reported. The self-sufficiency of pulses and oilseeds can only be achieved when the government strengthens its production, marketing, and storage services. The budget will mainly be used to develop a large-scale cluster for vegetable production closer to major consumption centers. The network will help promote cooperatives, startups, and farmer-led small organizations. 

The government has launched various programs to help the Indian startup ecosystem grow.  Recently, All India Financial institution NABARD also launched Rs 750 crore agri funds to offer mentorship and funding to small enterprises and startups in agriculture. The fund was to enhance the agri-produce value chains by creating new rural ecosystem linkages & infrastructure.  Earlier this year, the Indian government also announced its plans to launch a new scheme to help  MSMEs join ONDC. The Indian agritech sector is already experiencing a boom, with a huge interest from investors. 

Conclusion

The Indian government’s allocation of Rs 1.52 lakh crore in the Union budget for 2024-25 is an initiative towards enhancing the vegetable supply chain. The government plans to help and promote farmer-producer organizations and startups by providing them with solid connections, storage, marketing, and digital public infrastructure; the government aims to create a robust support system for vegetable supply chain startups. This digital public infrastructure will be fully operational after a year-long pilot. It will also conduct crop surveys across 400 districts, integrating six crore farmers into the farm and land registry. Additionally, Kishan credit cards will be provided to farmers through this system.