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 9 priorities agenda including resilience and productivity in agriculture.  

The initiative is taken by the government 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 offered 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 be then bought under the ambit of the farm and land  registry. 

This digital public infrastructure will also be used to provide Kishan credit cards to farmers. The  government previously launched a pilot of agricultural DPI to digitize the process of 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 in the promotion of cooperatives, startups, and farmer led small organizations. 

The government has been launching 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 the agriculture sector. 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 on a boom with the huge interest of investors  in this sector. 

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 strong 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 is set to be fully operational after a year-long  pilot and it will also be used to conduct crop surveys across 400 districts, integrating 6 crore farmers  into the farm and land registry. Additionally, Kishan credit cards will be provided to farmers through  this system.