Agri-Tech Industry Calls for Innovation-Led Policy Shift in Budget 2026

As the Union Budget 2026 approaches, India's agriculture and agri-tech sector is advocating for a more drastic change in policy, moving away from production-led growth and towards a framework based on innovation, competitiveness and technology.

Industry leaders emphasise the need to improve export infrastructure and quality systems, accelerate the adoption of agri-tech and digitisation, increase access to specialised rural credit and greatly increase public and private investment in R&D. They contend that when taken as a whole, these actions are essential for raising farm incomes, strengthening international integration and guaranteeing that the goals of policy are translated into quantifiable results at the local level.

Opportunity to Recalibrate

Highlighting the need for a structural reset in agricultural policy, Ajay Kakra, Leader – Food and Agriculture, GIDAS, Forvis Mazars in India, said, “Budget 2026 presents an opportunity to recalibrate agricultural policy from being production-centric to market-, quality- and innovation-oriented.”

He emphasised that export constraints stem more from gaps in infrastructure and institutional support than by production capacity. He believes that creating export-centric agri clusters, modern pack houses, port-linked cold chains and a stable export policy framework would encourage long-term investments and reduce uncertainty for farmers and exporters. Strengthening quality infrastructure through testing, certification, traceability and residue monitoring is essential to access higher-value markets and should be viewed as a value-creation lever rather than a compliance cost.

Greater integration of digital infrastructure into the agri-tech ecosystem was flagged by Amith Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of StarAgri, who added, “The agritech sector approaches this Union Budget with hope and clear expectations.”

He further stated that deeper digitisation, technology-led interventions and a renewed push to the Digital Agriculture Mission—alongside an alternative rural credit framework tailored to farmers’ income realities—are being viewed as necessary to accelerate adoption and improve access to finance.

The importance of strengthening research and development support was underscored by RG Agarwal, Chairman Emeritus, Dhanuka Agritech Ltd, who stated, “If we genuinely want scientific progress and global competitiveness, R&D funding has to increase.”

He shared that restoring incentives for private-sector research and rationalising GST on essential farm inputs such as pesticides are critical priorities. “Despite not being luxury products, pesticides, which are plant medicines and a form of crop insurance for farmers, attract 18% GST, similar to luxury items. Just as the GST on essential human medicines was reduced, we urge the government to bring the GST on pesticides down to 5%, so farmers are not overburdened.”

He further shared that ensuring stronger execution at the farm level is critical to translating policy announcements into tangible impact.