Farmer groups flag gaps in Union Budget’s response to agriculture sector

Several farmer organisations in Tamil Nadu on Sunday said the Union Budget 2026–27 did not sufficiently address issues faced by the agriculture sector, including rural distress, rising input costs and climate-related challenges.

The Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, affiliated to the CPI(M), said the Union government had failed to offer any meaningful intervention to address the agrarian crisis even after more than a decade in office. In a statement, its general secretary Sami Natarajan termed the Budget a “grave betrayal of farmers”, contending no new schemes had been announced and allocations for agriculture continued to remain inadequate.

He also pointed to the absence of enhanced allocations for fertilizer and pesticide subsidies and expressed disappointment that the annual ₹6,000 assistance under the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme had not been revised upwards, despite sustained demands from farmer groups.

Echoing these concerns, P. R. Pandian, president of the Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Associations Coordination Committee, said the Budget prioritised industrial investment while ignoring the basic needs of the farm sector. Speaking from Mannargudi, he said there was no provision for farm mechanisation, no statutory backing for minimum support price (MSP), and no announcements on loan waivers, marketing support or other farmer-centric measures.

While welcoming announcements related to sandalwood cultivation, coconut farming and efforts to globalise cashew production, Mr. Pandian said the lack of financial support for staple crops such as paddy, wheat and sugarcane was deeply disappointing. He also criticised the absence of a long-term vision on strengthening input subsidies, expanding cultivated area, improving irrigation infrastructure, river interlinking, rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge.

Similar views were expressed by P. S. Masilamani, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association affiliated with the CPI. He said farmers had expected concrete relief measures after sustaining production despite repeated climatic shocks. According to him, “even though Indian farmers had surpassed China in paddy production, the Budget failed to provide a statutory MSP based on the C2+50% formula or to establish a permanent disaster relief fund to compensate crop losses caused by recurring natural calamities.”

Mr. Masilamani added there was no proposal to strengthen the National Disaster Response Fund in line with the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, nor any roadmap for groundwater conservation or river interlinking.

Raising additional concerns, G. S. Dhanapathi, State general secretary of the Indian Farmers’ Association, said despite plans to borrow ₹11.70 lakh crore, the Budget did not allocate funds for river interlinking, farm loan waivers or zero-interest crop loans.

He said the coconut development programme offered little benefit to farmers in Tamil Nadu and criticised the absence of measures to curb palm oil imports or support domestic edible oil producers. He also cautioned the new corridor projects proposed for the extraction of rare minerals in Tamil Nadu and other States could lead to environmental degradation. He further criticised the absence of schemes for Siddha medicine, while special initiatives had been announced for Ayurveda.

Offering a broader assessment, Mahadhanapuram Raja Ram, president of the Cauvery Irrigation Farmers’ Welfare Association, said farmer groups had closely watched the Budget to see whether Tamil Nadu would receive tangible benefits, particularly with the Assembly elections approaching. While acknowledging announcements related to textiles, bio-pharma, energy, minerals, natural fibre and cotton, fisheries, coconut, cashew and livestock development, he said the promise of doubling farmers’ income remained vague, with no clear roadmap.

Meanwhile, V. Jeevakumar, vice-president of the All India Agricultural Labourers Union, Thanjavur, said while the announcement on coconut improvement was welcome, the continued silence on MSP implementation and the Swaminathan committee recommendations was disappointing. He added farmers had expected stronger focus on river interlinking and concrete measures to promote natural farming, both of which were missing from the Budget.