Agriculture in India has had a long history because of the fertile plains of Northern India irrigated by the Indus,

the Ganga-Jamuna river systems. For a country like ours, without development of farmers, we cannot move ahead. We have to think about farmer uplift and in this regard banks and the financial institutes have a vital role to play," Indian economy has grown more swiftly in the current year. This growth is considered to be broad based, as the contribution from all the sectors Agriculture, Industry and services was equally impressive. The GDP is estimated to have grown at a rate of 8.6% in 201011 in real terms. Agriculture growth rate has rebounded to 5.4%, industry and services continued their gaining momentum at 8.1% and 9.6% respectively. The major challenge was controlling the rising inflation rate. Favorable monsoon, higher MSP (especially on pulses), quality seeds availability, besides, measures Such as nutrient based subsidy and higher government procurement lead to acreage expansion under Various crops and consequently, to higher food grains and other crop production in the current year. For agricultural and allied sectors, the Union Budget 201112 proposes to deepen further the Initiatives taken in the previous budget to attract private investment. It also aims at removing the production and distribution bottlenecks for some of the major commodities like fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, poultry and fish through investment incentives, reduction in import duty on machinery and so on. Here are the opportunities in the Union Budget 201112 in the agriculture sector: 1. Higher allocation under RKVY scheme The total allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) has been increased from Rs.6,755 crore in 201011 to Rs.7,860 crore in 201112 mainly to check the smooth flow of distribution of the major commodities (fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, poultry and fish) in the market and to control prices. 2. Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern Region In the last Budget, Rs. 400 crore was provided to extend the green revolution to the eastern region of the country. The last years initiative will be continued in 201112 with a further allocation of Rs. 400 crore. The program would target improvement in the rice based cropping system of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is a step taken to enhance food grain supply to meet the growing demand. 3. Integrated Development of 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas To enhance the productivity of the dry land farming areas of pulses, an amount of Rs. 300 crore was provided in the last budget to organise 60,000 pulses and oil seed villages. This initiative and higher MSP set by the government for pulses have paved way for record high pulses production of 16.5 million tons in 201011 as against the previous year of 14.7 million tons. In Budget 201112, an amount of Rs.300 crore has been proposed to promote 60,000 pulses villages in rainfed areas for increasing crop productivity and strengthening market linkages. It also aims at attaining selfsufficiency in production of pulses within the next three years. 4. Promotion of Oil Palm India is a one of the major importers of edible oils (mainly palm oil). The domestic production of edible oil meets only about 50 per cent demand. The imports are becoming costlier on rise in prices. The oilseeds production in the current year is expected to be higher at 27.8 million tons as against 24.9 million tons the previous year on good rains. To reduce the dependency on imports, a special attention has to be paid to oil palm as it is one of the most efficient oil crops. Thus, an amount of Rs.300 crore has been proposed to bring 60,000 hectares under oil palm plantation, by integrating the farmers with the markets. The initiative will yield about 3 lakh tons of palm oil annually in 5 years. 5. Initiative on Vegetable Clusters The robust domestic demand for vegetables has to be met by increasing the yield level and linking the markets. To provide quality vegetables at competitive prices an efficient supply chain has to be established. Rs.300 crore has been proposed in the budget 201112 for implementation of vegetable initiative to set in motion a virtuous cycle of higher production and incomes for the farmers. This programme will be launched near major urban centres to begin

with. 6. Nutricereals The availability and consumption of high nutri cereals like Bajra, jowar, ragi and other millets are low and declining over the years. To promote higher production, upgrade processing technologies and to create health benefits awareness of these cereals, a provision of Rs.300 crore is being made. The programme would be taken up in 1000 compact blocks covering about 25,000 villages and would provide support to ten lakh millet farmers in the arid and semiarid regions of the country. This will help improve nutritional security and increase feed and fodder supply for livestock. 7. Agriculture Credit The target for credit flow for the year 201112 has been increased from Rs.3,75,000 crores to Rs.4,75,000 crores. Banks are continuously meeting their targets and have been asked to step up direct lending for agriculture and credit to small and marginal farmers. 8. Interest subvention: The existing interest subvention scheme will be continued during 201112 of providing short term crop loans to farmers at 7 per cent interest. A 3 per cent interest subvention is proposed for those farmers who repay their crop loans on time in 201112. Thus, the effective rate of interest for such farmers will be 4 per cent per annum. The NABARD's capital base would be strengthened by infusing Rs.3000 crore, in a phased manner, as Government equity has been proposed to enhance the flow of agriculture credit. 9. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture To sustain the growth in agriculture by increasing the productivity and address issues like deterioration in soil health, indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, distorted prices, the Government proposes to promote organic farming methods, combining modern technology with traditional farming practices like green manuring, biological pest control and weed management. 10. Mega Food Parks The targeted Mega Food Parks in the Eleventh Plan is set at 30. So far, 15 such parks have been sanctioned. In 201112, approval is being given to set up 15 more Mega Food Parks to ensure smooth flow of fruits& vegetable at competitive prices and to reduce wastages. An estimated 40 per cent of the fruit and vegetable production in India goes waste due to lack of storage, cold chain and transport infrastructure. 11. Storage Capacity and Cold Chains The foodgrain procurement in the last three years (2008 to 2010) was at higher levels. On January 1, 2011, the foodgrain stock in Central pool reached 47 million tons, 2.7 times higher than 17.4 million tons on January 1, 2007. Thus the storage capacities must be increased. Through private entrepreneurs and warehousing corporations new storage capacity of 150 lakh tons have been fast tracked. The decision to create 2 million tons of storage capacity under Public Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) Scheme through modern silos has been taken. While about 0.26 million tons of capacity would be added by March 2011 based on existing sanctions and the addition will reach 4 million tons by March 2012. During 201011, another 2.4 million tons of storage capacity has been created under the Rural Godown Scheme. The investment in cold storage projects is gaining momentum. During this year, 24 cold storage projects with a capacity of 0.14 million tons have been sanctioned under National Horticulture Mission. In addition, 107 cold storage projects with a capacity of over 0.5 million tons have been approved by the National Horticulture Board. To attract investment in this sector, henceforth, capital investment in the creation of modern storage capacity will be eligible for viability gap funding scheme of the Finance Ministry. It is also proposed to recognize cold chains and postharvest storage as an infrastructure subsector.

12. Agriculture Produce Marketing Act The inflation in vegetables and fruits has exposed serious flaws in our supply chains. The government regulated mandis sometimes prevent retailers from integrating their enterprises with the farmers. There is need for the State Governments to review and enforce a reformed Agriculture Produce Marketing Act urgently. 13. Nutrient based subsidy In 201011, the nutrient based policy was successfully implemented for all fertilisers except urea. The government is actively considering the extension of the NBS regime to cover urea. Challenges State Bank of India (SBI) deals with various aspects of agriculture the main challenges the agriculture sector faces at present, Meeting the future global food demand as well as ensuring provision of urban amenities in rural areas in a sustainable manner is the main challenge. As more and more agriculturist shift to commercial crops for obvious reasons of increasing their income, the need for improving the income levels of food crop growers through multiple related activities is an important factor we need to look at. Augmenting the income of farmers engaged in production of food crops as well as improving their living conditions will also prevent such farmers from migration to urban areas for better prospects. the various aspects of agriculture that SBI is dealing with presently State Bank deals with all aspects connected to farmers as well as other rural dwellers. We have a continuous process through which the new needs and demands of the rural sector are identified, suitable products are developed and introduced.The Bank has sponsored Chairs in several Institutions for conducting research studies on various aspects of agriculture and rural development. SBI has also taken up several projects for upgradation of technology through Project Uptech, where some allocation is made for research on appropriate technology. Uttar Pradesh has laid out a roadmap for expanding the existing network of mandis (agricultural market yards) by adding another 2105 in the next four years. This step alone will remove the supply-side constraints that we often hear about, and provide an assured market for farmers. It is primarily because of the wide network of mandis and that too at approachable distances from farms that Punjab has turned into a food bowl. U.P is the most populous State in the country, and is also the biggest producer of foodgrains. But except for some parts in the western region of the state, agricultural marketing infrastructure remains in its infancy. Unlike in Punjab and Haryana, which have well-laid out network of mandis and procurement centres, UP had lagged behind all these years. Only 300 procurement centres have existed. Farming has therefore been perceived as a curse. Without an assured market, farmers have no incentive to make the right kind of investment to improve production. Nor do they receive the right price for their produce. The proposal now is to set up 500 mandis every year. The huge network of mandis when complete will also reduce the average distance a farmer will need to cover to take his harvest to the nearest mandi to approximately seven kms. Instead of handing these mandis to the private sector, as the Planning Commission has been insisting, Chief Minister Mayawati has taken the right decision to let these mandis be operated by the State Agricultural Produce Marketing Board. There is no denying that over the years commission agents have virtually taken over control of the mandis. Much of this problem is simply because the political parties have handed over the control of the mandis to middlemen. Instead of being managed by professionals, most of the mandi boards in the country are controlled by the commission agents. The answer, therefore, does not lie in dismantling the mandis and handing them over to the private companies. A better regulatory system without any political interference can rejuvenate the mandi structures, and make it effective.

Nor does the answer lie in allowing the big food supermarkets to set up shop in India. Although the Ministry of Commerce and the Planning Commission are pushing for the entry of big retail giants like Wal-Mart and Tesco into India arguing that big food retail would provide a better price to farmers and also make the produce cheaper for the consumer. The big organised retail is also expected to ensure smooth supply chain linking the farm to the fork, thereby squeezing the middlemen. I find there is now more pressure to seek entry of private players in the name of more tangible reforms in agricultural marketing. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says: "So far, in India, while Wal-Mart has succeeded in opening one cash-and-carry outlet since its alliance with Bharati telecom, Tesco has entered into a franchise agreement with Tata Trent, and Carrefour is still scouting for a suitable partner. In the meantime, farmers are robbed in the mandis while consumers pay through their nose to retail vendors." This is a flawed argument. Past experience show that big food retail has neither benefited the farmer not the consumer. Nor has big retail helped in creating jobs. Claims by the big supermarkets to be driving economic growth by creating thousands of jobs have been exposed as a sham. In England, it has now been shown that supermarket chains like Tesco and Sainsbury have failed to live up to their promise of creating thousands of jobs and thereby driving up the economy. In the past two years, Tesco had promised to create 1000 jobs, and Sainsbury another 13,000. Newspaper reports say that Tesco has created only 726 jobs, while Sainsbury actually laid off 1600 of its existing employees. If the supermarkets were really so efficient as they claim to be, and provided dynamism in their operations, why is the United States providing massive subsidies to farmers. After all, the world's biggest retail giant Wal-Mart is based in America and it should have helped American farmers to become economically viable. But this did not happen. American farmers have instead been bailed out by the government, providing a subsidy of Rs. 12.5 lakh crores between 1995 and 2009, and this includes direct income support. What is therefore urgently required is not to copy that failed model, but to set up a nationwide network of mandis in India. The evidence is right before our eyes, from our own experiences in Punjab. Assured procurement in the mandis is the backbone of income security for farmers in the state, and it has motivated them to invest in improving their production over the years. In Punjab, you rarely hear of distress sale at the time of harvest. In UP, there is hardly a year when reports of distress sale do not pour in. It is the absence of mandis in India's most populous state that has so far gone to the disadvantage of farmers there. According to the National Sample Survey, the monthly income of an average farming family in UP is the lowest

Schemes for Agriculture Sector SBI has schemes and products both for short term requirements as well as long term requirements of agriculturists. Kisan Credit Card is a popular package to cover the short term requirement of the farmers carrying four components of their requirement viz. crop production requirement, ancillary requirements like repair and maintenance of pumpsets, pipeline, purchase small implements etc., their recurring

requirements for allied activities like the maintenance of couple of farm animals and contingent needs that may arise during the year.

Crop loan Scheme (ACC) Storing produce in their own premises and renewal of loans for next season Kisan Credit Card Scheme Land Development Schemes Minor Irrigation Schemes Purchase of combine Harvestor Kisan Gold Card Scheme Krishi Plus Scheme- for customized hiring of tractor to rural youth Arthias Plus Scheme for Commission agents Broiler Plus Scheme Broiler farming Lead Bank Scheme

Conclusion The need of the hour is to leverage the existing resources and make banks more participative so that the agriculture sector can be improved.