Agri Infra Fund boosts farm sector with Rs 73,194 crore

New Delhi

The Economic Survey released on Monday highlights that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has successfully mobilized Rs 73,194 crore to boost the farm sector. Additionally, the Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) scheme has sanctioned 48,357 storage projects with Rs 4,570 crore in subsidies and has 20,878 ongoing projects with Rs 2,084 crore released. Over the past five years, agriculture has grown at an average annual rate of 4.18%, although 2023-24 saw a slower 1.4% growth due to erratic monsoons. Allied sectors like livestock and fisheries are also showing strong growth, with 7.38% and 8.9% annual increases, respectively. The government has improved credit access, reducing non-institutional credit from 90% in 1950 to 23.4% in 2021-22. Initiatives like Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) and the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) have expanded micro irrigation to 90 lakh hectares and promoted sustainable practices.