Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while tabling the Union Budget 2025-26, marked agriculture as one of four pillars of economic growth – alongside MSMEs, investment, and exports. A number of new initiatives seek to boost productivity, enhance rural employment opportunities, and help farmers become more financially independent.
Key Highlights
Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana
- Inspired by the Aspirational Districts Programme, this initiative will cover 100 low-productivity agricultural districts.
- Key focus areas:
- Enhancing productivity through modern farming techniques.
- Crop diversification & sustainable practices to improve yield.
- Better post-harvest storage at panchayat and block levels.
- Irrigation improvements for efficient water use.
- Easy access to long-term and short-term credit for agriculture. As estimated, the scheme will benefit 1.7 crore farmers.
Rural Prosperity and Resilience Programme
This is a multi-sectoral initiative that will address under-employment in agriculture, and boost the rural economy. Focus areas on this programme include skilling, investment, and technology adoption to create jobs.
- Financial autonomy for rural women through enterprise. This is through job and entrepreneurship opportunities for younger farmers & rural youth. It involves warehousing and productivity enhancements for the small & marginal farmers. This is aimed at increasing income-generating activities for landless households.
- Stage 1: Will be over 100 developing agri-districts, wherein best practices from across the globe and within the country would be integrated with support from the multilateral development banks.
Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses (6-Year Plan)
- Designed for achieving self-sufficiency in Tur, Urad, and Masoor pulses.
- Major initiatives undertaken were:
- Climate-resilient seed varieties with high protein content.
- Better farming techniques leading to higher productivity.
- Better post-harvest storage & management.
- Indicative procurement & remunerative prices to registered farmers.
- Procurement agencies (NAFED & NCCF) will procure pulses from registered farmers for the next four years.
Holistic Program for Fruits & Vegetables
- Enhances increased production, processing, and efficient supply chains.
- Partnership & institutional support for each and every state:
- Better price realization for farmers.
- Access to domestic & export markets will increase. .
- FPOs and cooperatives will expand.
Grameen Credit Score Framework
- Public Sector Banks will formulate a credit scoring system for Self-Help Group (SHG) members & rural borrowers.
Aims to improve financial inclusion & access to credit in rural India.
Conclusion
The Union Budget 2025-26 will focus on agriculture and rural resilience through enhanced productivity, farmer financial security, and diversification of rural income sources. This will help in building the agricultural backbone of India and will spur sustainable economic growth in rural areas.
