Telangana Budget: Agriculture top priority

State govt allocates Rs 26,831 crore for agriculture sector for 2023-24 fiscal

Hyderabad: With numerous proactive initiatives, the K Chandrashekhar Rao government has turned the crisis-ridden agriculture sector into a remunerative profession for farmers and has become a torchbearer for the nation. The State government has proposed a total outlay of Rs.26,831 crore for the agriculture sector for the 2023-24 fiscal.

In the 10 years preceding the formation of Telangana, an amount of Rs.7,994 crore was spent in the agriculture sector. In contrast, since the State formation, the expenditure incurred by the Telangana government on the agriculture sector up to January, 2023 is Rs 1,91,612 crore, which is nearly 24 times more.

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On numerous occasions, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has declared that agriculture was the top priority for his government and accordingly, huge allocations were made in the 2023-24 Budget as well. The allocation for Rythu Bandhu has been increased from Rs 14,800 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 15,075 crore in 2023-24, anticipating an increase in cultivation area in the wake of speedy construction of irrigation projects.

The State government has sanctioned Rs 1,585 crore for the Rythu Bima insurance scheme in 2023-24, up from Rs 1,466 crore in 2022-23. Keeping its promise, the BRS government has set aside Rs 6,385 crore towards farm loan waiver, which is also a substantial hike from Rs 4,000 crore in 2022-23.

While the average growth rate of gross value added by agriculture and allied sectors at constant prices in the country is 4 per cent from 2015-16 to 2021-22, it is 7.4 per cent in Telangana. “This is proof of Telangana’s significant achievement in agriculture sector under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao,” Finance Minister T Harish Rao said.

The area under cultivation has increased significantly from 131.33 lakh acres in 2014-15 to 215.37 lakh acres in 2020-21 as a result of the programmes taken up by the Telangana government for the development of agriculture sector. The production of paddy increased three-fold from 68.17 lakh MT in 2014-15 to 2.02 crore MT in 2021-22.

Incentives for Oil Palm cultivation

The State government is extending incentives on a large scale to motivate the farmers to take up oil palm cultivation which yields high income to the farmers. For subsidising oil palm plants, fertilisers and drip irrigation, the State government made separate budgetary allocations of Rs 1,000 crore for oil palm cultivation.