New Delhi: Over 4.19 crore farmers were insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in the year 2024-25, to protect their crops against natural calamities, diseases, pests and other weather events.
The Economic Survey of 2025-26, released on Thursday, noted that India’s agriculture sector grew at a rate of 3.5 per cent in Q2 of 2025-26. But there are still persistent challenges for the sector, mainly from land constraints, declining soil health, water scarcity, and climate change.
“With sustained investment and innovation, agriculture can become more resilient, competitive, and income-enhancing,” said the Survey. “Expanding high-growth sectors, such as horticulture, agroforestry, dairy, poultry, and fisheries, can further support inclusive economic development.”
The Survey covered the breadth of developments in India’s agricultural and food sectors, such as the increased productivity of allied sectors like livestock and fisheries, which have a growth rate of 7.1 per cent and 8.8 per cent, respectively, much higher than the 3.5 per cent growth in crops. Specifically, the Survey said that yields of crops such as maize, soybean, pulses and cereals remain below global averages.
Climatic conditions like unseasonal rains and heat stress, and technological challenges like irrigation and seed inputs, were flagged as the major reasons for this yield lag. However, the Survey also said that Union and state governments were working on measures to improve access to these agricultural inputs for Indian farmers, to help them overcome farming challenges and also maintain a steady income from farming.
Schemes like the High-Yielding Seeds Mission, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, the Soil Health Management Scheme, and measures to reorient fertiliser use are aimed at ensuring better productivity. Meanwhile, ground-level credit disbursement, the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing, minimum support prices, and crop insurance schemes are to ensure that farmers can get a steady income without being open to climate and other shocks.
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Seed research and digital agriculture
The Economic Survey also emphasised India’s efforts at providing high-quality seeds to farmers for better productivity and yield. The year 2025 marked 10 years since the Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Materials (SMSPM) was launched by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, to promote the production, processing, storage and certification of seeds. Until now, the SMSPM has created 6.85 lakh seed villages and benefitted over 2.5 crore farmers in the country. Enhancing soil and seed research is a priority for the agricultural sector in the coming years, said the Survey.
Another key focus of the 2025-26 Economic Survey was the use of digital tools in agriculture, including e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) for online price discovery and marketing. The platform now has over 1.79 crore registered farmers and over 10,000 farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) to enable farmers to trade through online mandis.
This is a part of the bigger Digital Agriculture Mission launched in 2024 by the Union government, which has an entire stack of digital infrastructure, such as AgriStack, a Krishi Decision Support System, and even online comprehensive soil fertility and profile maps. The goal, according to the Economic Survey, is to ‘enhance transparency and competition’ in the agricultural sector.
“Indian agriculture is entering a phase of new opportunity, supported by advances in irrigation, digital extension, improved storage, and the strengthening of cooperatives and value chains,” said the Survey.
Digital improvements are also part of India’s plan for addressing the key challenges facing agriculture – climate, water, soil conditions – through precision agriculture tools like sensors and drones, and data analytics like GIS and artificial intelligence. However, the Survey did not expand on how these tools will be deployed in the Indian landscape, or any specific missions related to digital deployment in farming and other agricultural practices.