Overview
- Addressing a post-budget webinar on agriculture and the rural economy, the prime minister urged a shift to export-oriented, high-value crops and stricter quality, branding and standards to compete globally.
- The Union Budget 2026-27 earmarks Rs 1,62,671 crore for agriculture with region-specific promotion of coconut, cashew, cocoa and sandalwood, plus support for agarwood in the North East and temperate nuts in Himalayan states.
- Citing delivery to date, he said nearly 10 crore farmers have received over Rs 4 lakh crore under PM-Kisan, around Rs 2 lakh crore in crop insurance claims have been settled, and institutional credit now covers more than 75% of farmers.
- He highlighted fisheries as a major export lever, noting current reservoir and pond output of about 4–4.5 lakh tonnes and scope to add roughly 20 lakh tonnes with better mapping, hatcheries, feed and logistics.
- Modi pressed for wider use of e-NAM and AgriStack, crop diversification and natural farming, and he set targets for women-led enterprise expansion under Lakhpati Didi while inviting state and private-sector collaboration to speed implementation.