According to Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the recent GST reforms will have a significant impact on the agriculture sector, particularly benefiting small and medium-sized farmers. He stated that the reduced GST rates on agricultural equipment will lower the cost of farming, which in turn will increase farmers’ profits.
Chouhan highlighted that the GST on bio-pesticides and micro-nutrients has been reduced, which will benefit farmers and likely encourage them to use more bio-fertilisers instead of chemical ones.
In the dairy sector, there will now be no GST on milk and cheese. During a press meet in Bhopal, Chouhan said this change "will not only benefit the common man, but farmers, cattle breeders and milk producers will also benefit."
The minister praised the GST reforms, saying, “The government and the Prime Minister are trying to ensure that there are no difficulties in the life of the common man. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, he had told the country that next-generation reforms will be brought in GST and those reforms will bring great relief to the people.”
As a farmer and the Agriculture Minister, Chouhan added, “I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our resolution is to reduce the cost of production in agriculture and increase production. If production increases and cost decreases, then the farmer’s profit in farming will increase.”
He further stated that a review of the recent GST reforms shows that "the farmers of the country are going to get great benefits from them."
The reduction of GST to 5pc on agricultural equipment such as tractors, harvesters, and rotavators "will prove to be a boon for the farmers". Chouhan used the example of a tractor that costs ₹9 lakh, explaining that a farmer will now save ₹65,000 on the purchase.
"The size of the landholdings of the farmers of our country is small. That is why we are trying to integrate farming, which means that the farmer should be involved in farming and do some other work in the allied sector,” the minister explained.
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He also noted other benefits, stating, “GST has been reduced on butter and ghee, so definitely these indigenous products will start selling more. GST has also been reduced on milk cans; the dairy sector will also get its benefit, and if the dairy sector progresses, then farmers and cattle rearers will directly progress.”
The minister also mentioned that GST has been reduced on 12 biological pesticides and micronutrients. Additionally, the GST on raw materials used to prepare fertilizers, such as ammonia, sulphuric acid, and nitric acid, has been reduced from 18pc to 5pc. This change, he said, will "definitely come down, and farmers will also benefit from that."
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