Makhana Board, Bihar

Announced in Budget 2025-26, the Makhana Board is a dedicated institution for a crop that is grown almost entirely in Bihar and has a national and export market.

Makhana (fox nut) is labour-intensive to harvest and process, and most of the value has historically been added after it leaves the grower's hands. The Board is aimed at that gap.

What it does

• Improves makhana production, processing, value addition and marketing
• Organises farmers into FPOs
• Provides training
• Provides access to government schemes — which for a sector that has operated largely outside formal schemes is a significant part of the point

• Support across the makhana chain: production, processing, value addition and marketing.
• Organisation into Farmer Producer Organisations, so growers can aggregate and capture more of the processing margin.
• Training in improved production and processing.
• Access to government schemes the sector has not historically used.

• Makhana farmers and those engaged in makhana activities, in Bihar.
• Growers organised into, or willing to join, an FPO.

• The Board is focused on Bihar's makhana sector.
• As a newly announced institution, its detailed schemes and assistance rates were not published in the sources available here. Confirm what is operational before planning an investment around it.

How to engage with it

1. Contact your district agriculture office in Bihar and ask what the Makhana Board has made operational, and who the point of contact is.
2. Ask about joining or forming a makhana FPO — this is the route through which the Board's support is designed to flow.
3. Ask about the training programmes available, particularly on processing, which is where the value addition sits.

• Land or water-body (pond) record for makhana cultivation
• Aadhaar and bank account details
• FPO registration documents, for group applications