Context

• he Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved the “Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana”

About the Scheme

• The PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana was launched under Union Budget 2025 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to improve agricultural conditions in 100 low-productivity districts across India.
• The scheme aims to enhance rural prosperity by implementing specialized interventions and integrating existing agricultural schemes.
• Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana draws inspiration from NITI Aayog’s Aspirational District Programme and first of its kind focusing exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors.
• It focuses on boosting farm productivity, increasing credit access, and modernizing farming practices.
• The program is expected to benefit 1.7 crore farmers across the identified districts.

Aim of the Scheme

• The Scheme aims to enhance agricultural productivity, increase adoption of crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices.
• It also aims to augment post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate availability of long-term and short-term credit.
• The Scheme will be implemented through convergence of 36 existing schemes across 11 Departments, other State schemes and local partnerships with the private sector.

Features of the Scheme

• The scheme aims to bring together multiple existing agricultural schemes under one umbrella for better efficiency and impact.
• It will introduce specialized interventions that cater to the unique challenges faced by each of the 100 identified districts.
• The government will leverage technology-driven solutions to help farmers adopt modern and sustainable agricultural practices.
• The scheme specifically targets districts with moderate crop intensity, low productivity, and limited access to institutional credit.
• It aims to encourage financial inclusion by strengthening farmer access to government-backed financial programs and microfinance institutions.
• 100 districts will be identified based on three key indicators of low productivity, low cropping intensity, and less credit disbursement.
• The number of districts in each state/UT will be based on the share of Net Cropped Area and operational holdings. However, a minimum of 1 district will be selected from each state.

Other Facets of the Scheme

• Committees will be formed at District, State and National level for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of the Scheme.
• A District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan will be finalized by the District Dhan Dhaanya Samiti, which will also have progressive farmers as members. 
• The District Plans will be aligned to the national goals of crop diversification, conservation of water and soil health, self-sufficiency in agriculture and allied sectors as well as expansion of natural and organic farming. 
• Progress of the Scheme in each Dhan-Dhaanya district will be monitored on 117 key Performance Indicators through a dashboard on monthly basis. 
• NITI Ayog will also review and guide the district plans. Besides, Central Nodal Officers appointed for each district will also review the scheme on a regular basis.

Conclusion

• As the targeted outcomes in these 100 districts will improve, the overall average against key performance indicators will rise for the country.
• The scheme will result in higher productivity, value addition in agriculture and allied sector, local livelihood creation and hence increase domestic production and achieving self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat).
• As the indicators of these 100 districts improve, the national indicators will automatically show an upward trajectory.