3 months ago
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The Centre volition enactment high-value crops specified arsenic coconut, sandalwood, cocoa and cashew successful the coastal areas of the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said successful her Budget speech connected Sunday (February 1, 2026). However, the allocation for the strategy was ₹350 crore with farmers organisations stating that the caller inaugural was conscionable different rhetoric.
“Agar trees successful the Northeast and nuts specified arsenic almonds, walnuts and conifer nuts successful our hilly regions volition besides beryllium supported,” she said. The Minister said high-value agriculture volition diversify workplace outputs, summation productivity, heighten farmers’ incomes, and make caller employment opportunities.
World’s largest coconut producer
She said India is the world’s largest shaper of coconuts and astir 30 cardinal people, including astir 10 cardinal farmers, beryllium connected coconuts for their livelihood. “To further heighten competitiveness successful coconut production, I suggest a Coconut Promotion Scheme to summation accumulation and heighten productivity done assorted interventions including replacing aged and non-productive trees with caller saplings/plants/varieties successful large coconut increasing States,” she said.
Ms. Sitharaman said a dedicated programme is projected for Indian cashew and cocoa to marque the state self-reliant successful earthy cashew and cocoa accumulation and processing, heighten export competitiveness and alteration Indian cashew and Indian cocoa into premium planetary brands by 2030.
Regarding sandalwood, she said the histrion is intimately linked to India’s societal and taste heritage. “Our authorities volition spouse with State governments to beforehand focused cultivation and post-harvest processing to reconstruct the glory of the Indian sandalwood ecosystem,” she said.
To rejuvenate old, low-yielding orchards and grow high-density cultivation of walnuts, almonds and conifer nuts, she said the Centre volition enactment a dedicated programme to heighten husbandman incomes and successful bringing worth summation by engaging youth.
Farmers organisations, however, are not enamoured by the announcement. “The rhetoric connected investing successful currency crops continued adjacent successful this year’s Budget. The code underlined a absorption connected coconut, cocoa, cashew, nuts, and sandalwood. However, successful reality, missions specified arsenic Cotton Technology Mission, Mission connected Pulses, Hybrid Seeds, and Makhana Board, introduced successful the past, find nary notation successful the budgetary figures,” the All India Kisan Sabha said successful a statement.
