New schemes for coconut, cashew, cocoa and sandalwood aim to boost farm productivity, exports and rural jobs, with added focus on livestock and high-value orchards
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday unveiled a Coconut Promotion Scheme in the Union Budget 2026-27, aimed at increasing production and improving productivity to strengthen India’s competitiveness in coconut cultivation.
Presenting the Budget in Parliament, Sitharaman said the scheme will focus on major coconut-growing states and include interventions such as replacing non-productive trees with new, high-yielding saplings.
“To further enhance competitiveness in coconut production, I propose a coconut promotion scheme to increase production and enhance productivity through various interventions, including replacing non-productive trees with new saplings or plants of varieties in major coconut-growing states,” she said.
The Finance Minister also proposed a dedicated programme for Indian cashew and cocoa, with the objective of making India self-reliant in raw cashew and coconut production and processing, while enhancing export competitiveness.
“A dedicated program is proposed for Indian cashew and cocoa to make India self-reliant in raw cashew and coconut production and processing, enhance export competitiveness and transform Indian cashew and Indian cocoa into premium global brands by 2030,” Sitharaman said.
In addition, she highlighted the cultural and economic importance of sandalwood, announcing that the Centre will partner with state governments to promote focused cultivation and post-harvest processing to revive the Indian sandalwood ecosystem.
Sitharaman further announced support for rejuvenating old and low-yielding orchards and expanding high-density cultivation of walnuts, almonds and pine nuts, aimed at improving farmer incomes and creating value addition opportunities for rural youth.
On the animal husbandry front, the Finance Minister said the government will introduce a credit-linked subsidy programme to generate quality employment in rural and peri-urban areas. Efforts will also focus on scaling and modernising livestock enterprises and encouraging livestock farmer producer organisations.
The measures form part of the government’s broader push towards high-value agriculture, diversification of farm output, and enhanced rural employment generation.
