Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged stakeholders to steer Indian agriculture towards an export-led growth model, stressing the need to tap the country’s varied agro-climatic conditions, strengthen storage and supply chains, and promote innovation in agri-fintech to improve productivity and farmer incomes.
Addressing a post-Budget webinar on “Agriculture and Rural Transformation”, Modi urged entrepreneurs to increase investment in these critical areas to energise the rural landscape.
“I am confident that the nectar emerging from your deliberations today will provide new energy to the rural economy,” he said.
The Budget for 2026-27 places significant emphasis on revitalising the farm sector and boosting rural development. He noted that sustained policy efforts in recent years have aimed at lowering risks for farmers while providing greater income stability.
Highlighting key initiatives, he said schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and reforms in Minimum Support Price have strengthened the financial base of cultivators. According to him, more than Rs 4 lakh crore has been transferred to around 10 crore farmers under PM-KISAN, while insurance payouts of nearly Rs 2 lakh crore have been settled through Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. Institutional farm credit coverage, he added, has now exceeded 75%.
With foodgrain and pulses production reaching record levels, Modi said the sector must now shift towards higher value and globally competitive agriculture. He pointed to Budget proposals promoting region-specific crops such as cocoa, cashew, sandalwood, agarwood in the Northeast, and temperate nuts in Himalayan states. Expanding high-value agriculture, he said, would also generate rural jobs through food processing and value addition.
Modi also emphasised India’s potential in fisheries, noting that the country is already the world’s second-largest fish producer. While reservoirs and ponds currently produce about 4.5 lakh tonnes of fish, he said the potential exists to increase output by another 20 lakh tonnes, making the sector a major driver of export growth and rural prosperity.
On livestock and dairy, the Prime Minister said India has emerged as the largest milk producer and ranks second globally in egg output. He highlighted the expansion of breeding programmes under National Gokul Mission and vaccination efforts against Foot and Mouth Disease, under which more than 125 crore doses have been administered.
Modi also underlined the importance of crop diversification, pointing to missions on edible oils, pulses and natural farming to reduce dependence on single crops and strengthen farm resilience.
Technology, he said, will play a key role in the next phase of agricultural growth. The government is building digital public infrastructure for farming through AgriStack, alongside initiatives such as digital land surveys and farmer IDs. Platforms like e-NAM are also helping integrate markets and improve price discovery.
Modi stressed that technology delivers results only when institutions adopt it and entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions around it.
He also highlighted rural development programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, along with the growing role of self-help groups in boosting rural incomes.
Referring to the Lakhpati Didi campaign, Modi said the government aims to create three crore more women entrepreneurs by 2029.