New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a post-budget webinar on 'Agriculture and Cooperatives', and highlighted that the agricultural budget, which was less than Rs 25,000 crore in 2014 has now gone up to more than Rs 1,25,000 crore.

"Every budget in recent years has been called a budget for gaon, gareeb and kisaan. The government is working towards making domestic and international markets accessible to the farmers," Modi said in his virtual address.

"Various decisions are being continuously taken in the budget to promote the agricultural sector so that the nation becomes 'atmanirbhar' and the money used for imports can reach our farmers.

"The goal of complete development cannot be achieved until the challenges related to the agriculture sector are eliminated.

"Today India is exporting many types of agricultural products," the Prime Minister said as he shed light on the efforts of the government to make domestic and international markets accessible to the farmers.

He also stated that India's goal should not be limited to rice or wheat when it comes to self-sufficiency or export.

Highlighting the imports in the agricultural sector, Modi gave examples of expenditures of Rs 17,000 crore in 2021-22 for the import of pulses, Rs 25,000 crore for the import of value added food products and Rs 1.5 lakh crore spent on the import of edible oils in 2021-22.

He further added that the sum of all agricultural imports was about Rs 2 lakh crore.

The Prime Minister emphasised that various decisions are being continuously taken in the budget to promote the agricultural sector so that the nation becomes atmanirbhar and the money used for imports can reach the farmers.

He gave examples of increase in MSP, promotion of pulse production, increase in the number of food processing parks, and work in mission mode to become completely self-sufficient in terms of edible oil.

Modi informed that India is home to more than 3,000 agri-startups today compared to next to nothing nine years ago.