Cabinet approves PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana for six years
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the ‘Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana’ (PM-DDKY) for a period of six years starting from 2025-26 in what is being termed as a major push to boost agricultural productivity and support farmers across the country.
The scheme will initially cover 100 identified districts with low agricultural output and credit uptake.
According to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the PM-DDKY is aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity, promoting crop diversification, encouraging sustainable farming practices, strengthening post-harvest storage infrastructure at panchayat and block levels, improving irrigation facilities, and facilitating both long-term and short-term credit availability.
“The scheme is inspired by NITI Aayog’s Aspirational District Programme, but for the first time, it focuses exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors,” a senior ministry official said.
The 100 districts under the scheme will be identified based on three key indicators: low productivity, low cropping intensity and limited credit disbursement. The number of districts selected from each state or Union Territory will be proportional to their share of net cropped area and operational agricultural holdings. However, every state will have at least one district included under the scheme.
“The implementation will rely on convergence of 36 existing schemes spanning 11 Central departments, along with state schemes and public-private partnerships.
Committees will be established at the district, state and national levels for effective planning, monitoring and execution," the official said.
Each district will have a District Dhan-Dhaanya Samiti comprising local officials and progressive farmers. This committee will finalise a District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan aligned with national objectives such as crop diversification, soil and water conservation, expansion of natural and organic farming, and achieving agricultural self-sufficiency.
The scheme’s progress in each district will be monitored using 117 key performance indicators (KPIs), updated monthly through a Central dashboard.
According to the official, the NITI Aayog will regularly review and guide district-level plans, while Central nodal officers assigned to each district will conduct regular reviews.
India