LAHORE: The federal budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 exposes a critical disconnect between political rhetoric and fiscal commitment regarding agriculture sector.
Despite finance minister explicitly reiterating the long-standing national consensus that “agriculture is the backbone of our economy”, the actual text of the 53-page budget speech tells a vastly different story. Throughout 97 detailed points, the vital sector that sustains national food security and employs millions is consistently treated as an afterthought, receiving only vague mentions and residual financial allocations.
This lack of direct, aggressive investment indicates that the federal government is opting to keep the country’s primary economic driver on passive life support rather than driving meaningful structural reform.
The current near blackout of the sector contrasts sharply with the finance minister’s previous year’s budget address, where agriculture was explicitly highlighted as a pillar of economic growth. Shielding this sudden exclusion behind the pretext of provincial devolution rings hollow, considering that the constitutional division of authority was identical last year.
Last year, finance minister, in his address, elaborated Centre’s intervention for betterment of agriculture sector twice under the subheadings related to agriculture. He mentioned word agriculture nearly 15 times in his speech. However, in completely indifferent attitude, he just gave a reference of agriculture in current speech, without any subheading, hardly mentioning agriculture just four times in the otherwise elaborative presentation.
The finance minister noted that over 60 per cent of the development budget is heavily concentrated on transport, communication, water resources and energy. This structural decision leaves agriculture to fiercely compete for a share of the remaining 40 per cent alongside massive, demanding sectors such as information technology, science, health and education.
