Just lip service for farmers in the budget
New Indian ExpressMeanwhile, input cost of diesel, electricity, seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, labour etc. Announcing the government’s intent in the interim budget, Nirmala Sitharaman said a strategy will be formulated to reduce the country’s dependence on imports of vegetable oil to meet domestic demand and to boost domestic production of edible oils such as mustard, groundnut, sesame, soybean and sunflower. The Solvent Extractors’ Association said the country imported 167.1 lakh tonnes of edible oil between November 2022 and October 2023 as against 144.1 lakh tonne imported during the previous oil year. But a time when there is a growing focus on organic and natural farming, the interim budget failed to outline any incentives for organic farmers who leave their traditional crop fields vacant for initial two to three years to make the soil fertile and free from chemicals. It is quite known that nearly 50 per cent of the country’s farmers are in debt with average unpaid loans hovering between Rs.
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