Brahmani Nara, Executive Director_Heritage Foods Ltd | Photo Credit: NARENDER PADALA

The Finance Minister has captured the nation’s growth aspirations in a challenging world order and has reposed faith in agriculture with impetus to high-value crops, animal husbandry, and fisheries to become a vital catalyst in the journey of Viksit Bharat and a step towards the objective of increasing farmers’ income.

The FM’s proposals aim to address the problem areas and strengthen segments with huge potential in the farm sector. Agriculture is estimated to grow at 3.1 per cent.

She has focused on assisting approximately 86 per cent of small and marginal farmers, who have average landholdings of less than 1.1 hectares nationwide. These small, marginal, and landless farmers face significant obstacles during the agricultural production phase, including access to technology, high-quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as securing necessary financial resources. Furthermore, they face considerable difficulties marketing their products due to limited financial resources.

The thrust in Budget 2026–27 on technology adoption and skill development—particularly for women farmers—is aimed at accelerating agricultural growth while improving productivity and resilience.

It is heartening that the Finance Minister has responded positively to our proposal and has announced the scaling up of veterinary capacity by 20,000 professionals through new colleges, hospitals, laboratories, and para-vet networks. It directly addresses the severe shortage we highlighted to the government.

The Budget has effectively addressed the need to provide quality job opportunities in rural and peri-urban regions while also supporting the Animal Husbandry Sector.

The proposed entrepreneurship development initiative, with a credit-linked subsidy programme, will help expand and modernise livestock enterprises and establish integrated value chains focused on livestock, dairy, and poultry.

The renewed thrust by the FM for Livestock Farmer Producers Organisations reflects our sustained efforts to help small and marginal farmers involved in animal husbandry. A special focus on high-value crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa and cashew offers State governments a significant opportunity to tap export potential in both raw and processed forms. Realising this potential will depend on strengthening branding and marketing of Indian cashew and cocoa, which have strong prospects in the EU market.

Similarly, walnuts, almonds and pine nuts offer immense promise but require structured planning and targeted support. The Finance Minister’s response to concerns over low-yield orchards, with proposals to promote high-density cultivation, offers hope for a productivity turnaround.

Leveraging tech

The proposed extensive integration of digital technologies, such as precision agriculture tools and data analytics could greatly enhance farming operations and improve yield forecasts. The proposal to launch Vistaar as a multilingual AI tool has huge potential to help farmers access the latest digital resources from the agri institutes and research organisations.

Primary co-operative societies play a vital role in ensuring stable incomes for small and marginal farmers. The proposed three-year tax exemption for cattle feed and cottonseed producers — aligned with existing exemptions for oilseeds, fruits and vegetables supplied by members — is a welcome step.

The writer is ED, Heritage Foods

Published on February 1, 2026