Cabinet Approves The PM  Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana: A Major Step For Indian Farmers 

The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana has been approved by the Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to run over an approximate 6-year duration starting in the 2025-26 financial year. This scheme, which was in the Union Budget 2025-26, will catalyze the expansion of agriculture, and allied occupation in 100 pre-designated districts in India. It is the first one in its kind that focuses on directly enhancing agriculture and its peripheries by overcoming the existing inefficiencies in output, crop diversification, and access to credits.

 

In this plan, 100 districts shall be picked according to three key indicators namely; low agricultural productivity, low cropping intensity and inadequate disbursement of credits. In order to provide representation, at least one district each of all the states as well as Union Territories will be chosen and the number will represent the proportionate share of net cropped area and the number of operational agricultural holdings.

 

The programme will run through amalgamation and convergence of 36 of the existing central government schemes spread over 11 ministries and departments, and assisted by corresponding schemes on the state level, as well as the involvement of the partners in the private sector. The main targets are to increase crop productivity, encourage sustainable and diversified cropping, scale up post-harvest storage facilities at panchayat/block-level and extension of irrigation infrastructure and to provide long-term as well as short-term credit to farmers. 

 

District, state, and national committees will be formed to facilitate implementation and monitoring of the policies. A District Dhan-Dhaanya Samiti (which will consist of progressive farmers) at the district level shall develop a District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan, that suits its local needs and yet based on the national goals. Among them are water and soil conservation, increasing organic and natural agriculture and wide crop diversification. 

 

In order to measure the scheme progress, 117 key performance indicators will be monitored, and implementation will be done on a monthly basis on a digital dashboard. They will give recommendations to NITI Aayog, who will direct and review district plans after some time. Also, it will appoint central nodal officers to each district that will monitor the implementation of the scheme and present periodic reports.

 

The total outlay by the PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana is 24,000 crore annually and the Cabinet are hoping that about 1.7 crore farmers will reap the benefits of the coordinated efforts, enhanced facilities, and wider coverage that PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana will have. The government hopes that with such indicators improving in these selected districts, the overall agricultural indicators of India will also have a positive upward shift which can be utilized to realize the bigger aspirations of self-reliance and increased livelihoods in the countryside.

 

To conclude, the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana is a purpose-specific, multi-pronged initiative that aims at aligning the laggard agricultural districts with the national measures of productivity and sustainability in a closely coordinated, monitored system.