By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked big during her budget speech emphasizing “Agriculture as the first Engine” for India’s development journey announcing a slew of measures to spur agriculture growth and productivity benefitting the Annadata. However, farmers are not appeased. In contrast, they will be burning the copies of Union Budget 2025-56 on February 5 in protest, alleging it to be anti-farmers, anti-worker, and pro-corporate.
Farmers are already on the war path on demanding chiefly legal guarantee for MSP for their crops, as well as remunerative MSP as per Swaminathan formula of C2+50 per cent among others, but the Union Budget 2025-26 is silent about that. A talk between the Centre and Farmers’ representatives is scheduled for February 14.
Farmers are also up in arms against the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing because they see it an effort of bringing the now withdrawn three controversial farm laws enacted in 2020 through backdoor, which farmers though an effort to bring Corporate to the farms. Union Budgets 2025-26 does not talk also about that.
It is in this backdrop the new initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, including the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojna, are seen by farmers as some new strategy to push the new marketing regime bringing slowly but steadily Corporate to the farms.
What made the farmers to suspect the real intention of the Centre led by PM Narendra Modi is that only a very small increase in the budgetary support to Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, barely by 4 per cent, from about Rs1.32 lakh crore in the 2024-25 (RE) to Rs1.37 lakh crore for 2025-26. Given the crisis plaguing the agriculture sector this increase is too little to significantly increase the farmers income or overall agricultural growth in the country. The new initiatives are therefore only cosmetic application to show that the government is doing great things for farmers.
Union Budget 2025-26 makes a provision of Rs 1,27,290 crore for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, which is actually less than Rs 1,31,195 of 2024-25 (RE). Rs10,466 crore has been earmarked for Agriculture Research and Education for 2025-26, which is only a minor increase from Rs 10,156 crore of 2024-25 (RE). The total Net allocation for the demand in BE 2025-26 is Rs 128290.16 crore (Rs 127290.16 crore plus Rs1000 crore). The Additional Rs 1000 crore in BE 2025-26 is to be met from the balances from Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Fund (AIDF) for PMFBY & RKVY Scheme, the amount which the Centre could not spend in 2024-25, which is a proof of a dismal performance in both the schemes.
The Centre has been reducing its establishment expenditure for the Union Ministry for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. It was Rs 974 crore in 2023-24, which was reduced to Rs 858 crore in 2024-25 (RE), and now it has been proposed to further reduce to Rs 795 crore in 2025-26.
As for the Central sector schemes and projects for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, there is a proposed cut in expenditure, which was Rs 1,16,598 crore in 2024-25 (RE), but now will be Rs 1,08,910 crore, even after announcement of several new schemes, such as Cotton Technology Mission worth Rs 500 crore, Mission for Pulses worth Rs 1000 crore, Mission for Vegetables and Fruits worth Rs 500 crore, National Mission on Hybrid Seeds worth Rs 100 crore, and Support for Makhana Board worth Rs 100 crore.
It is puzzling for common people how the Centre is claiming helping the agriculture to grow and farmers to get larger benefit than now, when the Centre is actually reducing its expenditure on Central sector schemes and projects?
Under the Crop Insurance Scheme which included transfer to Transfer to Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Fund and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, the net expenditure is estimated for 2025-26 is Rs 12,242 which is less than Rs 15,864 crore in 2024-25 (RE).
The Union Budget 2025-26 has just abolished the Market Intervention Scheme and Price Support Scheme (MIS-PSS). Under Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Yojna (PM-AASHA) the allocation will be Rs 6941 crore for 2025-26, which is a small increased from Rs 6437 in 2024-25 (RE). Distribution of Pulses to State / Union Territories for Welfare Schemes has been discontinued.
There is no proposal for increase in Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) which stands at Rs 63500 crore. Poor farmers, therefore, can’t hope for increase in help they have been getting for several years. Only Rs 20 crore is increased under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Man Dhan Yojana, from Rs100 crore in 2024-25 to Rs120 crore in 2025-26.
Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) also gets the same amount of Rs 584 crore as the last year. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has saw a small rise from Rs 750 crore in the current year to Rs 900 crore for 2025-26. There will be no Additional transfer to Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Fund in 2025-26 while the amount was Rs 6000 crore in 2024-25.
Budgetary support to Statutory and Regulatory Bodies in the form of Additional transfer to Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Fund has been reduced from about 56 crore in 2024-45 to Rs 40 crore. Autonomous bodies would also get less, which has been reduced from Rs 102 crore in the current year to Rs91 crore in 2025-26.
Transfer to states under centrally sponsored scheme has been increased from Rs 13,206 crore in the current financial year to Rs 17,116 crore in 2025-26. Major increase will be in National Mission on Natural Farming from Rs 6000 crore to Rs 8500 crore, and Krishionnati Yojana from 100 crore to Rs 616 crore.
In the Development Head, allocation is reduced from Rs 1,08,428 crore in 2024-25 (RE) to Rs 1,01,968 crore for 2025-26 which included economic services like Crop Husbandry, Soil and Water Conservation, Agricultural Financial Institutions, Other Agricultural Programmes, Secretariat-Economic Services, Capital Outlay on Crop Husbandry, Capital Outlay on Soil and Water Conservation, Capital Outlay on Other Agricultural Programmes, and Capital Outlay on Other General Economic Services.
Funding for the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is therefore too little to significantly benefit agriculture development and farmers welfare. (IPA Service)
2025-26 Budget Contains Some Strategic Steps But Ignores Public Sector 