The Union Budget 2026-27's High Value Crops Mission represents a shift from food security to farm profitability. Discuss the opportunities and risks of this reorientation for India's small and marginal farmers.

The High Value Crops Mission (HVCM) of Budget 2026-27 supports coconut, cashew, cocoa and sandalwood in coastal areas, agarwood in the North-East and temperate nuts in the Himalayan states, seeking self-reliance and premium global branding for Indian cashew and cocoa by 2030 [1]. For the 86% of holders who are small and marginal [2], this is a shift from assured calories to uncertain but higher incomes.

Opportunities for small and marginal farmers

• Higher returns per hectare: horticulture and plantation crops yield far greater value per unit area than foodgrains, making sub-hectare holdings economically viable.
• Export-linked demand: India's cashew exports stood at USD 369.17 million and cocoa at USD 295.58 million in 2024-25, a base the Mission aims to scale up [1].
• Rural employment and value addition: picking, grading, processing and packaging are labour-intensive; the Prime Minister has stressed that export-oriented production will generate rural jobs through processing [3].
• Regional and tribal inclusion: agarwood in the North-East and nuts in hill states channel benefits to remote, tribal-dominated belts [1].
• Ecological co-benefit: diversification away from water-intensive paddy eases groundwater stress; perennials improve soil cover.

Risks for small and marginal farmers

• High transition cost and long gestation: cashew, cocoa and agarwood take years to yield, while smallholders lack the credit cushion to survive the wait.
• Price and market volatility: global commodity prices and non-tariff sanitary-phytosanitary barriers expose farmers to shocks that MSP-backed staples did not.
• Post-harvest losses: weak cold-chain and processing capacity can erode gains before produce reaches export markets.
• Equity risk: without aggregation, contracts and processing margins may accrue to agri-business rather than the cultivator.
• Food security trade-off: large-scale substitution of staple acreage could strain domestic supplies.

Profitability and food security are complementary, not competing, goals. Routing HVCM through Farmer Producer Organisations [4], with assured credit, insurance and cold-chain support, can let smallholders capture value while staple output is protected — advancing both doubling of farm incomes and SDG-2.