The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (Icar) estimates that agricultural research and development contributed approximately ₹55,000 crore, or one-third, to the increase in India's farm output value between 2024 and 2025. According to Icar Director General M L Jat, this contribution represents around ₹1.7 trillion in total additional output value, with the remaining two-thirds attributed to development programmes and farmers' own labor. The figure was calculated by totalling the value of output increase across all sectors, including fisheries and livestock, and estimating the contribution of new seeds, species, varieties, machines, and other research initiatives within them.
The data reveals significant production increases across multiple agricultural sectors during 2024-2025. Crop production rose by around 19 million tonnes with an economic value of ₹60,000 crore, while horticulture crop production increased by 7 million tonnes with an estimated value of ₹20,000 crore. Livestock production contributed ₹50,000 crore in economic value, and fisheries production grew by 1.4 million tonnes from 18.40 million tonnes to 19.77 million tonnes, generating additional economic value of approximately ₹40,000 crore. As reported by Jat, these production gains were achieved through higher-yielding seed varieties, better mechanisation, improved germplasm for horticulture crops, and other research-driven initiatives.
Icar significantly increased its research output in 2025, releasing 365 research-backed varieties of fortified crops, including 29 bio-fortified varieties, 94 climate-resilient varieties, and 111 varieties with registered genetic stocks. The institute aims to produce around 120,000 quintals of science-backed breeder seeds in 2025-2026. According to Jat, this commercialisation reflects successful transfer of research outputs to farmers and industry, demonstrating the practical impact of agricultural research investments. The research contributions include higher seed replacement rates, wider technology adoption, greater farmer awareness, climate-resilient crop varieties, mechanisation, natural resource management, and extension services.
Despite India's gross expenditure on agricultural research and education tripling in nominal terms over the past decade, it still accounts for only 0.6-0.7 per cent of GDP, significantly below the 2 per cent or more spent by most developed countries. According to Union Budget documents, the allocation for agricultural research and education rose from ₹4,836 crore in FY2014-15 to ₹9,266 crore in FY2026-27. However, this represents a compound annual growth rate of just under 6 per cent with strong volatility, as evidenced by the 0.05 per cent growth in 2022-23 before rebounding sharply in 2023-24. A recent working paper from India's National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research estimates that every ₹1 invested in agricultural research yields a return of nearly ₹13.85, outpacing returns from almost any other farm-linked activity.
The scale of government investment in agricultural research remains modest compared to other sectors. According to a study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, around 73 per cent of India's agriculture budget is absorbed by subsidies and welfare schemes, with food and fertiliser subsidies alone accounting for well over half of agrarian spending. Over the past five years, food and fertiliser subsidies have ranged between ₹3.8 trillion and ₹5.3 trillion. For FY2026-27, the combined food, fertiliser and fuel subsidy bill is projected to exceed ₹4.1 trillion, which is more than 44 times the allocation for agricultural research and education. This contrasts sharply with private sector firm Bayer India's R&D expenditure of ₹7,230 crore in FY2024-25 alone, which is close to 75 per cent of India's total agricultural research allocation.
