Uttar Pradesh Government Announces Major Agriculture Budget Boost
The Uttar Pradesh government has made a decisive push to strengthen the state's agriculture sector by allocating a substantial Rs 10,888 crore in the budget for 2026-27. This allocation represents a significant 20% increase compared to the previous fiscal year of 2025-26, underscoring the administration's commitment to rural development and food security.
Comprehensive Allocation Across Key Schemes
The budgetary funds are strategically spread across a diverse array of projects and schemes designed to modernize farming practices and enhance productivity. Key initiatives include the UP Agriculture Growth and Rural Enterprise Eco-system Strengthening (UP-AGREES) project, solar powering of farmers' pump sets, promotion of natural farming, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to private tubewells, and maintaining a revolving fund for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
A significant portion of the budget is earmarked for increasing the production of foodgrains and oilseeds. For the fiscal year 2026-27, the state government has set ambitious targets of producing over 753 metric tonnes of foodgrains and 48.18 MT of oilseeds.
Detailed Breakdown of Major Initiatives
UP-AGREES Project: The government has allocated Rs 245 crore for the UP-AGREES initiative, a World Bank-assisted project launched to strengthen agriculture, promote agro-based industries, and improve rural income. This allocation marks an almost 22% increase from the Rs 200 crore allocated in 2025-26.
Aquaculture Development: A budgetary allocation of Rs 155 crore has been made to lay a foundational structure for aquaculture. This includes plans to establish a world-class hatchery and training centre. The UP government has partnered with UAE-based Aqua Bridge to create a state-of-the-art aquaculture ecosystem. The project is projected to benefit approximately 1 lakh farmers and provide employment to over 1 lakh individuals, including 34,000 fish-farming families.
Natural Farming Focus: The state government has sharpened its focus on natural farming by increasing the budgetary allocation to Rs 298 crore. This represents an almost 140% increase from the Rs 124 crore allocated under this head in 2025-26. Experts suggest this move indicates a policy alignment with sustainable and low-input agriculture, positioning the state towards climate-resilient farming and reducing input costs for farmers.
Solar-Powered Pump Sets: The conversion of farmers' diesel pump sets into solar-powered ones has received a renewed boost through an allocation of Rs 637.84 crore. In 2025-26, the state government channeled Rs 509 crore for setting up solar-powered pump sets under the PM KUSUM scheme.
Revolving Fund for FPOs: The revolving fund for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) has received a budgetary boost of Rs 75 crore. This fund is utilized for supporting working capital, procurement of bulk goods, aggregation of produce, and strengthening the creditworthiness of FPOs, which are increasingly projected as commercially viable agri-enterprises.
Strategic Implications and Future Outlook
The substantial increase in the agriculture budget reflects the Uttar Pradesh government's strategic emphasis on transforming the agrarian economy. By investing in technology-driven solutions like solar energy, promoting sustainable practices through natural farming, and fostering entrepreneurship via FPOs and aquaculture, the state aims to enhance farmer incomes, ensure food security, and create employment opportunities in rural areas.
This comprehensive budgetary approach is expected to drive significant improvements in agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience across Uttar Pradesh's farming communities.
