Budget25: Money for developing high-yielding, climate-resilient seeds

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : The Union budget for FY26 is expected to announce a substantial increase in funding for research and development of high-quality and -yield hybrid seeds for pulses, edible oils and cotton—essential commodities whose shortages have led to an import spike—two people aware of the matter said. The Centre plans to develop climate-resilient seed varieties to boost productivity and improve farmers' incomes.

The agriculture sector, employing about 42.3% of the population and contributing 18.2% to the GDP, is facing challenges such as climate change, leading to inconsistent yields. A case in point is cotton, whose imports are set to rise by 42% to 2.5 million bales in the current financial year, even as exports drop by 37% to 1.8 million bales, according to the Cotton Association of India (CAI). In FY25, the ministry of agriculture is expected to spend ₹1.36 trillion, including an additional ₹13,407 crore for which Parliament's nod was secured in January, showing a more-than-16% jump in spending.

The government has raised the allocation for 'agricultural education' from the revised estimate of ₹2,574.36 crore in FY24 to ₹2,780.39 crore in FY25, reflecting an 8% increase. However, the overall allocation for the Department of Agricultural Research and Education saw only a marginal rise to ₹9,941.09 crore in FY25 from ₹9,876.609 crore in FY24 (RE). The government has already announced the release of 109 high-yield and climate-resilient varieties of 32 crops, which will take around three years to reach farmers.