Photo used for representation purposes only. | Photo credit: PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the presentation of the Union Budget 2023-24 announced the establishment of an agricultural accelerator fund to encourage agri-startups by young entrepreneurs in rural areas .

Speaking about the need to develop digital infrastructure to help the country’s agricultural sector, Ms. Sitharaman said digital public infrastructure for agriculture will be built as an “open source, open standard and interoperable public good”.

The move towards digitalization of agriculture is expected to enable inclusive farmer-centric services such as agricultural inputs, crop estimation, market information, crop planning and support for agro-industrial industries and startups.

The Minister of Finance presents the Union budget for the financial year 2023-24 before Parliament on February 1, 2023. Last year’s budget focused on reviving the economy amid uncertainties caused by recurrent COVID-19 infections. This year, however, in the economic survey filed by Ms Sitharaman, she claimed the economy had recovered from the Covid shock.

“In 2022-2023, the Indian economy has almost ‘recovered’ what had been lost, ‘renewed’ what had stalled and ‘re-energized’ what had slowed down during the pandemic and since the conflict in Europe,” he said. said the investigation.