Haryana's Budget 2023-2024 to Focus on Sustainable Agri Schemes, Natural Farming & Millets

The Haryana government's plans for the agriculture sector in the 2023–24 fiscal year, which were released on Thursday, will be centred on the promotion of millets and a drive for natural farming along with direct seeding of rice.

Approx 18 per cent of Haryana's income comes from agriculture and related industries. In the budget estimates that chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar gave to the state assembly on Thursday, the sector was given Rs 8,316 crore (19 per cent more money than the previous year), despite the fact that he said the sector was facing many difficulties, including the sustainability of agriculture in the face of climate change.

In the last two years, the state government has transferred over Rs 45,000 crore directly into the bank accounts of farmers after they have purchased crops and spent $428 crore implementing various new agricultural programmes aimed at crop diversification. Khattar expressed his hope that Haryana will set the standard for improving the productivity of bajra cultivation, its branding, and marketing through various products.

Moreover, a nutri-cereals research centre will open in Bhiwani this year as a first step to promoting the cultivation of bajra, and a project worth 27 crores is being prepared to do the same for millets through cluster demonstration. The government intends to increase bajra usage and publish a cookbook with recipes for a variety of bajra-based foods.

The year 2023 has been designated as International Millets Year by the United Nations on the initiative of the union administration.

When the natural farming programme was first introduced last year, 2,238 producers received assistance in implementing it. Haryana succeeded in bringing 5,906 acres under natural cultivation as opposed to the goal of 2,500 acres.

Further, a new initiative called "precision agriculture," which encourages the prudent use of fertilisers and pesticides as well as micro-irrigation, will be introduced in Sirsa district and then extended to other districts based on the lessons learned.