We were looking to a stimulus in Budget 2015 for agri-biotech so that Indian agriculture could become more productive. The several initiatives announced by the FM that include the creation of a unified national agriculture market, a renewed focus on micro-irrigation, enhanced spending on rural infrastructure and an increase in farm credit. The focus is on infrastructure and less on incentivising crop research. While this will benefit the farm sector and help improve farm incomes, a more conducive policy for the agri-biotech industry would have been more welcome.
(This comment was also published in Hindu BusinessLine on 1 March, 2015)
