There is no gainsaying that an agrarian country like India will never be able to achieve sustainable growth till it strengthens the farming sector.
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Notwithstanding the fact that agriculture is the first engine of India’s development journey, fund allocation for this sector is far from satisfactory. Rather, as per the available statistics, budget allocation for farmers’ welfare has considerably gone down during the last couple of years. While the budget allocation for this purpose was 3.3 per cent in 2023, the same has declined to 2.6 per cent in 2026-27. Noticing the downward trend in allocation, agriculturalists have already sounded the warning bell, claiming that if the financial support remains inadequate, it will hamper the rural economy badly, which in turn will have a devastating effect on the overall economic growth rate of the country.
It’s an irony that even after having huge potential in agriculture, proper attention has never been given to this sector except for a brief period in the fifties and the sixties, when a couple of dams were constructed and high-yielding seeds were used to enhance agro-production. The fact that even now almost 50 per cent of the country’s cultivable land is devoid of any kind of irrigation facilities means that the farmers engaged there have no alternative but to pray for a good monsoon to get adequate yields. Besides, 65 per cent of irrigation facilities use groundwater as the primary source, which damages the ecology badly, apart from depleting it due to excessive withdrawal. Furthermore, despite employing the highest number of people, this sector contributes very little to the country’s GDP, which proves that agriculture in India is no longer a sought-after profession that once formed the backbone of the country’s economy.
This is why more funds should be pumped into agriculture to attract more people towards it. During the last couple of years, the government had given enough indications that it was thinking along the same lines by announcing new missions like ‘Atmanirbharta in Pulses’, ‘Comprehensive Programme for Vegetables and Fruits’, establishment of the ‘Makhana Board’, etc. But it’s a pity that all these missions have not progressed satisfactorily after being announced. For instance, the Union Government allocated INR 11,440 crore for a period of six years to make the country self-sufficient in this particular food grain on October 1, 2025, along with an initial allocation of INR 1,000 crore. However, no further allocation has been made for this purpose in the 2026-27 budget, which in turn has put a question mark on the continuance of this mission.
So, the primary task of the government is to restore the trust of the farming community that despite the advancement made in other sectors, India’s primary focus still remains on agriculture, as it is the key to building prosperity and resilience, especially in rural areas of the country. There is no gainsaying that an agrarian country like India will never be able to achieve sustainable growth till it strengthens the farming sector. To make it a major contributor to the country’s GDP, enough funds should be provided to enable the sector to embrace modern techniques to increase productivity instead of relying on primitive ways of farming.