To boost the cultivation of cash crops, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is targeting a 30 per cent jump in oilseeds output to 4.8 million tonnes (mt) in the current financial year 2026-27, which is currently pegged at less than 3 mt.
The state has announced a distribution of 5 million free mini seed kits to the farmers.
Additionally, subsidies of ₹600 crore on seeds and ₹350 crore on agricultural machinery have been provisioned, State Minister for Agriculture Education and Research, Surya Pratap Shahi said.
At 3.08 mt of output in FY25, UP ranked fourth among top pulses producers in the country, amounting for roughly 12 per cent of India’s aggregate pulses production at 26 mt that year.
UP’s food grain production jumped 32 per cent in eight years from 55.75 mt in FY17 to 73.74 mt in FY25.
The state is aiming to achieve total food grain production of 75.36 mt in FY27.
“Under the Yogi government, the state’s agricultural growth rate has risen from 8 per cent in 2016-17 to 18 percent in 2025-26,” Shahi said at a recent agri seminar.
The state is also aiming for a 3 mt increase in rabi production from 48 mt last year to 51 mt in the current year.
Meanwhile, Shahi has instructed officials to clamp down upon the inter-state smuggling of subsidised seeds and fertilisers.
Additionally, the Minister of State for Cooperation, J P S Rathore said 5.4 million new farmers have been brought into the cooperative banking system.
These farmers are offered Kisan Credit Card (KCC) credit lines of up to ₹300,000 at a subsidised interest rate of 3 per cent. Women farmers are given loans of up to ₹200,000 for animal husbandry.
UP is also among India’s leading horticulture producing states, and ranks first in honey production with 31,000 tonnes of annual output.
State Agriculture Director Tryambak Mani Tripathi claimed adequate fertiliser stocks, including 1.55 mt of urea and 625,000 tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate for the rabi season.
UP produces 21 per cent of food grains, 10.8 per cent fruits, and 15.4 per cent of the vegetables in India. Agriculture contributes 25 per cent to the state’s Gross State Domestic Product.
