Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a series of measures to support farmers and animal husbandry, targeted at fisheries, high-value crops, agri-technology, and women-led rural enterprises in the Union Budget 2026-27. A key proposal was the integrated development of 500 reservoirs, or Amrit Sarovars, to boost fisheries.
To bring technology into farming, she proposed launching BHARAT VISTAAR, a multilingual AI-based tool providing customised advisory support to improve productivity and reduce risks.
Sitharaman proposed the “highest ever total annual budgetary support of Rs 2,761.80 crore for the fisheries sector.” Of this, Rs 2,530 crore is earmarked for scheme-based interventions, ensuring direct support to fishers and fish farmers. The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana remains central to fisheries development, with an allocation of Rs 2,500 crore. The Department of Fertilizers received a net allocation of Rs 1.71 lakh crore, “reflecting the government’s focus on protecting farmers from global fertilizer price volatility and supply disruptions.”
The FM appeared to prioritise technology to boost yields and high-value sectors like fisheries and cash crops while withholding funds from underperforming schemes. “We will undertake initiatives for integrated development of 500 reservoirs and Amrit Sarovars, strengthen the fisheries value chain in coastal areas and enable market linkages involving start-ups and women-led groups together with Fish Farmers Producer Organisations (FFPOs),” she said
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan described the budget as “historic and unprecedented”—a “dynamic Budget for a developed India.” He highlighted a 21 per cent increase to the Rural Development Department, the agriculture budget of Rs 1.32 lakh crore, and over Rs 1.70 lakh crore for fertiliser subsidies, providing relief to farmers and reducing input costs.
“This Budget is laying a strong foundation for a self-reliant, empowered and prosperous India by 2047. It is writing a new chapter by bringing about transformative change in the lives of farmers, youth, women and the poor — the four pillars of the nation,” Chouhan said.
The Minister also expressed confidence that the Rs 1.51 lakh crore allocation under the ‘Viksit Bharat G Ram G’ scheme, along with Rs 55,900 crore to be received under the Finance Commission, will play an unprecedented role in building developed, self-reliant, employment-oriented and poverty-free villages.
Critics and farmer unions, however, accused the government of neglecting farmers.
The Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA-Kisan Swaraj) said, “The disregard towards farmers and their role in nation-building is reflected in the further slash of budgetary allocations to agriculture and allied sectors, now only 3.04 per cent of the overall budget, down from 5.44 per cent in 2019–20.”
Agriculture expert Prof Sudhir Panwar added, “For the first time, agriculture, farmers and villages faced neglect not only in the budget speech but also in the fine print. The budget on crop husbandry, fertiliser subsidy, and social sector spending either stagnated or reduced, even as rural income declines. PM Modi rightly said it is ambitious but far from reality.”
According to the ASHA-Kisan Swaraj: “While the total budget rose from Rs 50.65 lakh crore to Rs 53.47 lakh crore, agriculture and allied sectors saw a cut of Rs 9,000 crore, from Rs 1.72 lakh crore to Rs 1.63 lakh crore, with significant under-spending in previous years suggesting actual allocation may fall below 3 per cent. The government’s promise to double farmer incomes by 2022 remains unfulfilled, with new AI initiatives like Bharat-VISTAAR offering minimal real benefit to small and marginal farmers.
“Climate risks remain inadequately addressed. PMFBY insurance allocation fell by 15.7 per cent to Rs 12,200 crore, despite crop damage increasing fourfold in 2025. Several schemes have seen a decline in allocations. A big focus of the speech was announcing dedicated schemes and programs for “high-value crops” such as coconut, cashew, cocoa, sandalwood, etc, but these have relevance to a very small section of farmers”.