The Union Budget for 2024-25, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, has drawn sharp criticism from farmers and agricultural experts alike for its letdown of the farming sector. In the backdrop of the massive crisis faced by the farming community and the resulting discontent, this budget is nothing less than a disappointment. The Modi government seems to have learned no lessons from its downsized election results and has ignored the pressing needs of the rural community, especially in delivering promises that are now at least a decade old. Instead of addressing the challenges faced by farmers, the budget reads as a narrative of neglect and indifference. 

“An opportunity lost,” declared Devinder Sharma, an expert in agriculture, food, and trade policy, speaking to a media channel in Chandigarh. “Guaranteeing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops would not only have made the intention of the Union government clear but would have brought cheers to the farmers. This budget, with no concrete commitments, is a letdown,” he added.

A disheartening allocation for agriculture

The budget begins by stating that agriculture, and ensuring its productivity and resilience, is the top priority of the nation. It goes on to allocate Rs 1.52 lakh crore to agriculture and allied sectors for the year, which is Rs 0.25 lakh crore more than the previous budget, making it look like a substantial hike. However, this figure constitutes only 3.15% of the total budget, reflecting a decline in commitment to agriculture over the years. Kiran Vissa, co-convenor of the ASHA-Kisan Swaraj collective, says, "The declining budgetary allocations for agriculture clearly signal an anti-farmer stance. The government has not learned from the drubbing it received from rural voters in the recent elections." Kiran also tweeted data that showed that the budget for agriculture and allied sectors as a proportion of the total budget had come down from 5.44% in 2019-20 to 3.15% now, providing clear evidence of the neglect. One must remember that this petty allocation is for a sector that covers 58% of India’s population!

MSP: A broken promise

It is now the third annual budget that the Modi government is presenting after they committed in 2021 to bring a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for agricultural products. Despite years of demands from farmers for an MSP based on the comprehensive cost of production (C2) plus a 50% margin, the government has failed to guarantee the same and ensure its universal adoption.

“After the election verdict, I thought the Union Government would draw some lessons. It could have at least extended the Chhattisgarh government's MSP of Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy to the rest of the country. This is higher than C2+50 and would have cheered up farmers with the expectation of a higher paddy price this season, to begin with,” Devinder Sharma posted on the X platform, making it clear that a guaranteed MSP should have been the government's top priority.

"The government’s reluctance to formalise the MSP system shows a blatant disregard for the struggles of farmers," said Kavitha Kuruganti, a prominent advocate for farmers' rights. This sentiment resonates deeply among farmers who feel abandoned by a government that habitually invokes the farmers' cause for their political narratives.

Climate resilience vs corporate interests over farmers' welfare

The budget prioritises agricultural research for raising productivity and developing climate-resilient varieties. It then goes on to invite the private sector into a challenge mode to help develop the same. It promises to release climate-resilient varieties for cultivation. 

However, farmer leaders like Rakesh Tikait from the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who has been at the forefront of the farmers' struggle, are not at all enthused. For him, "such funds for the corporate sector in agri-research in the name of climate change only benefit foreign lobby groups and big corporations, and all this is detrimental for the farmers.” 

“Farmers benefit only when they get the right prices,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing spree with big multinational agribusinesses for work that the institution is actually mandated to do. The budget speech has also announced budgetary support to the private sector for the same. In a statement critical of the budget, the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA-Kisan Swaraj), a farm sector think tank, argues that the government's approach to agricultural research, which includes signing multiple MOUs with big corporations, undermines the very purpose of institutions like the ICAR. 

"The talk about climate-resilient varieties will inevitably lead to genetic modification technologies that benefit corporations, not farmers," Vissa cautioned.

Natural farming: Lip service?

While the budget emphasises natural farming, critics argue that these commitments do not walk the talk. The allocation for the National Mission on Natural Farming was slashed from Rs 459 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 365 crore in this budget. Incidentally, last year's revised budget estimate itself only showed Rs 100 crore as allocation, meaning the budget only pays lip service to even a programme that seems to be on the top agenda of the Prime Minister himself.

In the 2023-24 budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman stated, “Over the next three years, we will facilitate one crore farmers to adopt natural farming. For this, 10,000 Bio-Input Resource Centres will be set up.” In the 2024-25 budget speech, she simply gave a cut-and-paste statement. She said, “In the next two years, one crore farmers across the country will be initiated into natural farming supported by certification and branding. 10,000 need-based bio-input resource centres will be established.” Can someone explain how the maths add up?

Meanwhile, when the natural farming scheme that should supposedly impact one crore farmers receives a budget allocation of Rs 365 crore, the comically named ‘Namo Drone Didi’ scheme, which is expected to train and make 15,000 self-help group women ‘pilots’ of pesticides/nano-fertilisers spraying drones, furthering agrochemical usage (in contrast to safer natural farming), has been given a budget of Rs 500 crore!

Rural distress and indebtedness: Blind to the crisis

The nation continues to allow farmers and farm workers to take their own lives in an epidemic of suicides that worsens every year. The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data released in December 2023 shows that one farmer or farm labourer dies of suicide every hour in India. In 2022 alone, 11,290 such suicides in the farming sector were recorded. The distress in the farms should be a matter of serious concern for anybody, but the Union government seems totally blind to this.

The budget fails to address the issue of rural distress. One has to read this alongside the reduced budget allocation for critical rural income support schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The allocation for the PM-KISAN, another income support safety net scheme for farmers, has also come down to an allocation of Rs 60,000 crore, intended to cover nine crore farmers, down from the 14 crore farmer households when it started in 2019. The actual expenditure is reducing each year.

A call for genuine reform

The government's negligence in addressing the many pressing issues highlighted by the massive struggle led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) on the streets of Delhi is not only a political miscalculation but a moral failure. What is striking about the budgets for agriculture over the past several years are the many hyped-up schemes and announcements on the one hand and the declining financial provisions for them on the other. 

The Union Budget 2024-25 is a missed opportunity for meaningful reform in the agricultural sector. Farmers and farm policy experts have spelled out in no uncertain terms what they need to improve their lot. The demands from the farmers' protests are there for the Finance Minister to read. But as Tikait pointed out, “the budget left us 'empty-handed' as it failed to meet our key demands. The Budget may look good on paper in Delhi, but for the farmers, it is not at all good.” As farmers continue to struggle with economic instability and climate challenges, the government's failure to address their needs is not just a policy oversight; it is a betrayal of trust. Genuine reforms in the farm sector would need more than a Finance Minister; it would need a Farmers’ Minister to present a budget. That day will not be too far away!

Sridhar Radhakrishnan is an observer and writer on development and policy related to the environment, agriculture, and climate.