As agriculture contributes nearly 18% to India’s GDP and employs over 40% of its workforce, it is imperative for the Financial Budget 2025-2026 to focus on sustainability-driven reforms that align with India’s climate and economic goals. With climate change causing a 15-25% decline in crop yields annually and costing the economy an estimated ₹1.5 lakh crore, targeted incentives in the agricultural and environmental sectors can drive the adoption of green technologies at scale.
Farming solutions integrated with biologicals hold the potential to significantly improve agricultural productivity by mitigating the ill effects of abiotic stress like drought, high temperature & erratic rainfall, enhancing soil health, and reducing dependence on chemical inputs. However, there remains a significant policy gap between sustainability goals and on-ground implementation.
For example, while schemes like the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture exist, stronger measures are needed to integrate climate-smart practices into state-level programs and ensure last-mile delivery. Budgetary allocations must also address training programs for farmers, enabling them to embrace modern, eco-friendly methods.
A sustainability-focused budget can turn India into a global leader in climate-resilient agriculture while ensuring food security and economic growth. This is not just an investment in farming—it is an investment in the future of our planet.
Dr Renuka Diwan is one of the co-founders and CEO of Bioprime Agrisolutions, an agritechnology startup working towards bringing back ‘Pride and Profits’ to the farmers. The company leverages their advanced biotechnology and research in biologicals to support farmers struggling with crop loss, temperature fluctuations and diseases.
Bioprime was mentioned amongst the global BioAg 10 most innovative Startups in Rio de Janeiro this year. She has completed her PhD in Plant Sciences from University of Pune. She has also done her post doc in genetic engineering in collaboration with Cambia, an Australian company. She has worked extensively on bioactives for over 13 years and has a patent filed for large scale production of a certain class of metabolites. She is responsible for development and high throughput screening of bioactives. She also has over 15 years of experience in plant tissue culture and designs lab/field tests. She has published 12 research papers in peer reviewed journals.
