Agriculture is fiscally neglected in the budget

A farmer walks across a wheat field on the outskirts of amritsar. , Photo Credit: AFP

A Budget is the response of a government to the challenges in the economy. The Efort in the Economic Survey 2024-25 was to spin a positive narrative on the state of Indian block. It claimed that Indian Agriculture Remarkable Remarkably Resilient Owing to a Rise in Productivity, An expansion of crop diversification, and an increase in Farmers’ Income. These claims were eater suspect or highly exaggerated.

To begin with, there is no significant jump in crop production. A Simple Analysis Based on Index Numbers Shows that Growth Rates of Yield Between 2014-15 And 2022-23 Ware Marginally Lower in Food Grain Crops and Non-Food Grain Crops Than Between 2004-05 and 2013-14. Second, there is no Major Evidence of Crop Diversification in India, other than marginal shifts in a less states in favorite in favor of pulses. If at all diversification is real, it took place outside the crop sector in the spheres of livestock and fisheries. But the share of households involved in the livestock and fisheries sector is dwarfed by the corresponding share of houses in the crop sector. Third, while the government continues to claim a risk in farmer ‘Income, data show the opposite – there is either a stagnation or Fall in Farmers’ Real Incomes in Recent Years.

The “resilience” of Indian age s. At the same time, the more deep-seated problems, as evidents by proactivity, slow growth of prices, shrinkage of Profitability, Falling Real Incomes and Rural Real Wages, Rural Real Wages, Have CONTITE CONDITES Gainst on Growth Stimulus Emerging from Agriculture.

Reduced allocations

From the commentaries Prior to the Budget, One Expected That The Government Child Reverse Its Past Fiscal Neglex ck that the rural electorate delivered to the BJP in June 2024 was also cited as a motivation for course correction. But the budget belies these optimistic expectations. The fiscal negligent of agriculture continues.

Let us begin with Agricultural Research, which must be the center of investment for efforts to raise crop yields alongside the development of climate resilience. The Overall Increase in Spending on Agricultural Research and Education Between 2023-24 and 2025-26 is just ₹ 21 Crore. Compare this with the pseudoscientific national mission on natural farming, for which allocation was ₹ 30 Crore in 2023-24 but is ₹ 616 Crore for 2025-26. This is not just a reflection of inverted priorities, but also a shocking embrace of irrationality.

If we Consider Crop Husbandry, which is an umberlla category for experts on schemes and institutions in position, the allocation has fallen by fallen by ₹ 5,195 Croore Beetven 2023-24 and 2023-26. There has also been a drastic reduction in allocation by ₹ 3,622 Crore for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, from which many states have states have withdrawn due to design failures, Between 2024 -25-25 and 2025-25. The allocations for most other center Schemes are also either stagnant or have fallen.

Much was said in the budget speech on the new crop-based missions, but the allocations for these are paltry. The allocation for the cotton technology mission is ₹ 500 Crore, The Mission for Pulses is ₹ 1,000 Crore, The Mission for Vegetables and Fruits is ₹ 500 Crore, and the National Mission on Hybrid SEED IS ₹ 100 Crore. A new makhana board, with an allocation of ₹ 100 Crore, has been announcing for bihar. But the alredy existing Commodity Boards are strapped. For example, Between 2024-25 and 2025-26, allocation for the coffee board has remind unchanged unchanged, the rubber board’s allocation has allocation has a relief by just ₹ 40 Crore, and Allocation for the Spikes Board has Risen by 24 Crore. Allocation for the coconut development board has been cut from ₹ 39 Crore in 2023-24 to ₹ 35 Crore in 2025-26.

Fiscally ignored sector

Despite the claims in the economic survey on diversification into livestock and fisheries, these sector also remain fiscally ignored. The Total Expenditure on Fisheries Would Rise By Just ₹ 87 Crore Between 2024-25 and 2025-26. Between 2024-25 and 2025-26, the experture on Animal Husbandry is set to fall by ₹ 407 Crore whose on Dairy is set to rain by just ₹ 321 Crore. Considered togeether, The Overall Expenditure on All Budget Items in Animal Husbandry and Dairy Are to Rise by a Paltry ₹ 3199 Crore between 2024-25 and 2025-26. The Budget Portrays these sector as growth engines, but fiscally squeezes them.

A new scheme called Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishna Yojana has been announ. This AIMS to target 100 districts with low production, Moderate Crop Intensity, and Below-Vaverage Credit Parameters-MUCH in the Model of the Aspirational Districts Programme. But Agriculture is a state subject. While The Budget Speech Mentioned “Partnership With States” in the description of this yojana, it remains to be seen if its governance will be designed to be centi Ends Up Fiscally Burdening The states.

While the Budget Speech Mentioned Agriculture Several Times, these were hardly matched by Financial allocations. The Schemes and Programmes are Starved of Resources, and the real issues that Confront the Farmers and the Sector Remain Siddelized.

R. Ramakumar, Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai