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Ahead of the FY27 Budget, agriculture experts and industry leaders are urging the government to boost investment in digital infrastructure, climate-resilient practices, and technology adoption. While the sector employs nearly half of India's workforce, it contributes less than a fifth to national output. Key priorities include support for the dairy sector, micro-irrigation, renewable-powered assets, precision agriculture, and structural reforms in allied sectors. Public-private partnerships, targeted subsidies, and initiatives like AGRISTACK are seen as essential to improving productivity, rural incomes, and food security while positioning agriculture as a driver of economic growth.
Ahead of the upcoming FY27 Budget, leaders and experts from India's agriculture sector are urging the government to increase investments in digital infrastructure, climate-resilient farming practices, and technology adoption. They highlight that while agriculture and allied sectors employ nearly 45 per cent of the workforce, they contribute only around 18 per cent to the gross value added, making the Budget a key opportunity to position the sector as a driver of economic growth rather than merely a welfare-focused area. Advertisement
Amit Vatsyayan, Leader for GPS-Agriculture, Livelihood, Social and Skills at EY India, noted that agriculture is increasingly seen as an engine of economic growth capable of boosting productivity, employment, rural demand, and resilience.
The dairy sector has also highlighted specific needs. Brahmani Nara, Executive Director at Heritage Foods Ltd, pointed to the positive impact of the GST rationalisation in September 2025, which has accelerated consumer demand for high-protein and health-focused products such as paneer, cheese, ghee, and butter. Nara outlined three Budget priorities for the sector: subsidised access to quality feed and chromosome-sorted semen to improve animal productivity; expanding veterinary college capacity to address the shortfall between India's 68,000 registered veterinarians and the requirement of 110,000-120,000; and providing increased capital subsidies for mini-dairy units, with a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs. These initiatives build on government programmes such as the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Digital Livestock Mission, which have integrated over 3,00,000 farmers into the organised dairy ecosystem.
Experts emphasised the need for green infrastructure and climate-resilient technologies. Vatsyayan called for investments in micro-irrigation, watershed management, aquifer recharge, and renewable-powered agricultural assets. He highlighted that these measures not only support sustainability but also stimulate rural demand, stabilise farm incomes, and strengthen food security. Expanding public-private partnerships in storage, logistics, and agricultural research and development could reduce post-harvest losses, while targeted investment in seed systems could help India achieve self-reliance in pulses and other nutrition-sensitive crops. Drawing on international examples like Japan's farmer school model, he suggested adopting cluster-based farmer schools anchored in Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Krishi Vigyan Kendras to accelerate technology adoption.
Digital infrastructure is another focus area. Swapnil Jadhav, Founder and CEO of MapMyCrop, urged the government to enhance digital tools and credit linkages to scale precision agriculture. He explained that technologies such as agri-drones, IoT sensors, and AI-driven analytics have the potential to improve yields, optimise water and fertiliser use, and strengthen climate resilience across India's 140 million farm holdings. Jadhav recommended targeted subsidies, robust public-private partnerships, and R&D tax incentives to facilitate integration with national platforms like AGMARK-NET and e-NAM, transitioning India from input-heavy subsidies toward a technology-driven agricultural ecosystem.
Structural reforms remain critical, according to Soumyak Biswas, Partner for Agriculture at BDO India. He pointed out ongoing challenges, including small and fragmented landholdings, low investment in allied sectors, high post-harvest losses, and underfunded research. He suggested prioritising climate-smart agriculture through increased funding for DARE, strengthening allied sectors such as livestock and fisheries, empowering FPOs via market-linked strategies and credit guarantees, and incentivising diversification into horticulture, pulses, and oilseeds to reduce reliance on water-intensive crops.
Vatsyayan highlighted the role of AGRISTACK as a digital public good, explaining that integrating farmer data, land records, credit, insurance, extension services, and market platforms could enable precision targeting, reduce transaction costs, and attract private investment, serving as the backbone for the sector's transformation.
Source PTI
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