Govt allocates Rs. 57.5 billion for agriculture sector

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, May. 30: The budget of Rs. 57.48 billion has been allocated for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development for the next fiscal year 2025/26.

Presenting the budget for the fiscal year 2025/26 at the joint session of the federal parliament on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said that the government has allocated budget of Rs. 57.48 billion for agriculture with due priority in the agriculture sector for increasing production and productivity of agriculture.

The budget allocation for the agriculture sector is only 0.34 per cent more than current fiscal year’s budget.  The government has allocated Rs. 57.29 billion for the promotion and development of agriculture and livestock development for the next fiscal year 2024/25.

DPM Paudel said that emphasis will be placed on production and productivity for the development of the agricultural sector and on export promotion. Similarly, he said that small and medium scale farmers will be included in the insurance programme.

With the aim of transforming the productive sector with the slogan of modernisation in agriculture and transformation in the economy, the government has allocated Rs. 28.82 billion for chemical fertilisers in the next fiscal year. The government has targeted to supply around 600,000 tonnes of chemical fertilisers at subsidized rate for the next fiscal year.

The government has allocated Rs. 830 million for high-value commodity production, Rs. 330 million for irrigation required for chaite paddy production, and Rs 3.5 billion for the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernisation Project in the coming fiscal year.

The budget also announced that preparations will be made to establish a chemical fertiliser factory. 

Similarly, the government has allocated Rs. 400 million for the organic agriculture promotion programme to increase productivity while maintaining soil quality. The budget included that production will be promoted on arable barren land around the Pushpalal Mid-Hill Highway and Madan Bhandari Highway.

To increase the export of high-value agricultural products including organic fruits, vegetables, meat, and other products, the quality of plants, food and animal quarantine, and laboratories will be improved and made internationally recognized, said the budget.

Exports of cardamom, tea, coffee, ginger, turmeric, orange, black pepper, chutney, and dairy products will be promoted by setting quality standards, arranging laboratory testing, and branding, he said.

The budget includes provisions to expand access to agricultural and livestock insurance programmes for small and medium farmers. The government has allocated Rs. 2.3 billion for subsidies on crop and livestock insurance premiummes.