By Mr. Crispino Lobo, Co-founder & Managing Trustee, WOTR
“As India prepares its Annual Fiscal Budget, it is important to remember that the future of our food systems rests largely in the hands of smallholder farmers, men and women who cultivate less than two hectares of land, yet carry a disproportionate share of climate, market, and economic risk. Their realities are well known: limited access to affordable credit, highly volatile farm incomes, increasing exposure to climate extremes, inadequate access to quality inputs and appropriate technologies, and persistent post-harvest losses due to weak rural infrastructure.
A budget that truly serves smallholder farmers must therefore move beyond short-term relief and focus on long-term resilience. Investments in climate-adaptive agriculture, sustainable water security, precision farming technologies, farm-customised dynamic weather-based advisories, post-harvest loss-reducing technologies, and local value chains are no longer optional – they are essential. Equally important is strengthening institutional credit, risk-mitigation instruments such as effective crop insurance, and extension systems that place knowledge and technology in farmers’ hands.
If we want rural India to thrive, the Budget must see smallholders not as beneficiaries of welfare, but as partners in building resilient ecosystems, sustainable livelihoods, and national food security. Empowering them is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic investment in India’s future.”
