Union Budget 2026: Agri Ministry allocation up 2.6%; farm outfits say FM ignored their demands

The agriculture sector has got a 2.6% boost in the Union Budget, translating to an additional ₹3,000 crore in comparison to the previous year’s allocation, days after the Economic Survey pointed to a decrease in agricultural growth in the country.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to spend ₹1.30 lakh crore for the sector in 2026-27, in comparison to the budget estimate of ₹1.27 lakh crore for 2025-26, though this is higher than the revised estimates of ₹1.23 lakh crore. The Agriculture Ministry’s actual expenditure in the previous year 2024-25 was ₹1.29 lakh crore. The Fertiliser Ministry, meanwhile, was allocated ₹1.70 lakh crore for 2026-27, an increase of about 8.5% from the last budget.

Farmers organisations, cutting across the political spectrum, have criticised the budget for overlooking critical demands such as statutory minimum support price, farm debt relief, and a resolution to the crisis caused by global trade and tariff problems.

Research budget cut

The allocation for Kisan Samman Nidhi, which provides a fiscal allowance for farmers, has been retained at ₹63,500 crore, as in the last budget. The allocation for Agriculture Research and Education dipped 4.8% to ₹9,967.40 crore from the previous year’s ₹10,466.39 crore.

The Food and Public Distribution department has got a 10% hike at ₹2.35 lakh crore, of which the food subsidy accounts for ₹2.27 lakh crore. The Consumer Affairs Ministry’s allocation stands at ₹4,474 crore, of which ₹4,100 crore is for the price stabilisation fund.

Support for cash crops, AI tool

Ms. Sitharaman announced ₹350 crore in support to high value agriculture such as coconut, cashew, sandalwood and other nut crops, to diversify farm outputs, increase productivity, enhance farmers’ incomes, and create new employment opportunities.

She also announced an allocation of ₹150 crore for Bharat-VISTAAR (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), a multilingual Artificial Intelligence tool meant to integrate the AgriStack portals and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research package on agricultural practices with AI systems. “This will enhance farm productivity, enable better decisions for farmers, and reduce risk by providing customised advisory support,” she said.

‘Failed to fulfil promises’

Farmers organisations, from the left-leaning All India Kisan Sabha to the Sangh Parivar’s Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), condemned the Budget for ignoring farmers. BKS general secretary Mohini Mohan Sharma said the Budget failed to live up to the government’s vows to address farmers’ problems. “There is a difference in what Government promised and what is there in the budget,” Mr. Mishra said.

Punjab State Farmers and Farm Workers Commission chairman Sukhpal Singh also said the Budget has nothing for agriculture. “There is no allocation for a statutory MSP, for diversification of crops and for addressing farm debt. No package for Punjab even as water resources in the State are degrading. Cotton farmers across the country are facing distress. In Punjab alone, cotton cultivation came down from seven lakh hectares to one lakh hectare. We expected some measures to save cotton, as of the nine cotton growing States cotton, eight states are witnessing farmers’ suicides,” Prof. Singh said.