Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday presented the Karnataka Budget 2026–27, outlining several initiatives to strengthen the horticulture sector and improve farmers’ income. The government stated that horticulture will be developed as a major engine for increasing agricultural earnings by focusing on high-value, climate-resilient and market-oriented crops.

• Horticulture cultivation has been newly introduced in 89,000 hectares of land across the state.

• Drip irrigation systems have been installed in 2.23 lakh hectares, benefiting 2.36 lakh farmers.

• Under the crop insurance scheme, 11 lakh farmers received compensation of Rs 2,378 crore.

• A total of 9,800 post-harvest units have been constructed for 21,360 beneficiaries.

• Land available in horticulture department farms and nurseries will be used to develop high-value orchards, post-harvest facilities and horticulture-based industries under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

• Community-based pest and disease control programmes will be implemented with the support of universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
  These programmes aim to control diseases such as leaf spot, yellow leaf and fruit rot in arecanut, and pests such as black-headed caterpillar and whitefly in coconut, with an allocation of Rs 10 crore.

• Two cold storage facilities with a combined capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes will be built at Honnali in Davanagere district and Toravi in Vijayapura district at a cost of Rs 64 crore.
  Cold storage facilities will also be developed in agricultural markets in phases.

• The Lingambudhi Botanical Garden in Mysuru will be comprehensively developed to attract more tourists and nature lovers.

• The government will promote soil-less farming methods such as hydroponics and coco peat-based cultivation to conserve water and reduce soil-borne diseases.

• Based on expert feasibility recommendations, the government will begin first-phase infrastructure work to establish a horticulture college at Dambal.