Union Budget 2026: Farmers want focus on key crops and real support
Business
With the Union Budget coming up, India's agriculture sector is asking for more attention to strategic crops like oilseeds, pulses, and cotton.
Despite domestic production of pulses, India spends heavily on imports of vegetable oils and pulses.
Cotton imports have also increased recently.
Why should you care?
Most Indian farmers are smallholders facing tough challenges like low incomes, tricky weather, and not enough access to credit.
There's talk of new incentives to help them shift from chemical-heavy farming to organic methods with better price guarantees.
The upcoming budget (out Feb 1) is expected to push climate-smart farming and tech for fairer prices—moves that could make food production more sustainable and secure for everyone's future.