Editor’s note: Budget announcements are still evolving as more fine print and official notifications come in. This explainer captures the key agriculture-related highlights reported so far and what they could mean for farmers.

For years, India’s farmers have grown the food that feeds the country, but many have struggled to earn enough from it.

Most farmers still depend on crops like rice and wheat, where profits are often slim, costs are rising, and climate risks are growing sharper each season. For millions of families, farming has remained a livelihood of uncertainty rather than stability.

That is the challenge the Union Budget 2026–27 seeks to address with a clear new emphasis: helping farmers earn more by moving towards high-value agriculture and stronger rural value chains, especially in coastal and allied sectors such as fisheries.

A key reality shapes India’s farm economy: most farmers don’t have large landholdings to fall back on.

According to the Agricultural Census, nearly 86% of India’s farmers are small and marginal, cultivating less than 2 hectares. For them, income growth cannot come only from producing more — it must come from producing smarter, and earning better returns from every acre.

That is where high-value agriculture comes in.

High-value crops include horticulture, plantation crops, nuts, and spices — produce that typically earns more per unit of land than staple cereals. Over the last........

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