Repositioning Indian agriculture for global competitiveness and domestic resilience in Budget 2026

As India approaches Union Budget 2026, the agriculture sector stands at a decisive juncture. While food grain production has remained resilient, the next phase of growth must focus on export competitiveness, quality enhancement, large-scale programme execution, and innovation-led industry participation. Budget 2026 therefore presents an opportunity to recalibrate agricultural policy from being production-centric to market, quality, and innovation-oriented.

Export-oriented policies and infrastructure

India’s role as a major world exporter of cereals, pulses, spices and horticulture is limited not by its capacity to produce, but rather the lag in infrastructure and institutional support for exporting. The FY 26 budget proposed should focus on creation of export centric agri clusters, modern pack houses and port linked cold chains and procured focussed export facilitating entities. A permanent export policy framework would encourage long-term investments and decrease uncertainty for the exporters and farmers.

Quality infrastructure enhancement as a market enabler

Global and domestic markets are quality-driven, they are making quality infrastructure a non-negotiable requirement. Further development of testing laboratories, certification systems, traceability and residue monitoring will be crucial to access more valuable markets. The investment in quality improvement needs to be seized as a value-creation lever for farmers, FPOs and agri-enterprises instead of it being considered an add on cost for compliance.

Accelerating large-scale crop programmes

India’s experience with focused missions such as oilseeds and pulses demonstrates that scale and continuity matter. Budget 2026 can also fast-track outcomes by strengthening already large-scale programmes such as the pulses mission through enhancing seed systems, areabased productivity interventions and assured market linkages for them. Such schemes are important not just for import substitution but also to stabilise farm incomes and enhance nutritional security.

Food security in a volatile global environment

With climate in doubt and global trade crimps, food security is a strategic concern. Resource support including budget allocations needs to be balanced adequately against increasing productivity, management of buffers, diversification towards climate-resilient crops and further strengthening of PDS. A strong food system is critical for economic sustainability and social justice, especially for those who already are vulnerable.

Trade and market integration

Trade policy is going to determine how this sector grows. There is a need to match domestic production and demand shifts, enhance price discovery and make trade flows smoother. Budget 2026 ought to seek convergence of trade facilitation initiatives with farmers’ welfare safeguards, in a manner that integration with international markets translates into real earnings benefits at the farmer’s door.

Research, development and innovation as growth engines

It is also a significant step in adopting innovation as the driver of agriculture growth. Budget 2026 must to take this momentum forward by putting emerging sources of funding in agri-R&D, start-ups and private sector innovation on a sound footing. More cooperation between research institutions, start-ups and industry could help bring climate-smart technologies to market more quickly, new crop varieties, and digital products along the value chain.

Boosting industry participation and SME growth

Lastly, the development of agriculture as a high value-added industry stems from its powerful downstream sector. Specialized agri-SME-specific programmes, such as those focusing on processing, logistics, input innovation and export services can generate employment, local value addition and caveat minimalisation. Budget 2026 must see agri-industry as not a supplement, but the fulcrum of rural eco-nomic growth.