Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY)
Context:
Approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2025, the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY) is a transformative initiative designed to revitalize India's agricultural landscape.
First announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, the scheme has an annual financial outlay of ₹24,000 crore, committed for a period of six years, to directly benefit an estimated 1.7 crore farmers.
Objectives:
Enhancing agricultural productivity.
Encouraging crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices.
Augmenting post-harvest storage capacity at panchayat and block levels.
Improving irrigation infrastructure for reliable water access.
Enabling greater access to short-term and long-term agricultural credit for farmers.
Targeted Approach and District Selection:
Inspired by the successful Aspirational Districts Programme, the initiative explicitly focuses on 100 underperforming agri-districts.
These specific districts are systematically evaluated and selected using three critical parameters:
Low crop productivity (yields falling below national averages).
Moderate to low cropping intensity.
Below-average agricultural credit disbursement.
Strategy and Interventions:
The scheme exclusively targets agriculture and allied sectors, expanding beyond traditional crops to comprehensively encompass fruits, fisheries, beekeeping, animal husbandry, and agroforestry.
Primary interventions include integrating climate-resilient agricultural technologies, building climate-smart assets (such as micro-irrigation and protected cultivation), augmenting panchayat and block-level post-harvest storage, and improving long-term credit availability.
Implementation:
District Action Plans (DAPs) are formulated and implemented by District DDKY Samitis, headed by the District Collector, in close consultation with agricultural universities and NITI Aayog.
A dedicated digital dashboard tracking 117 key performance indicators, a farmer app, and a competitive district ranking system have been instituted to ensure real-time tracking, accountability, and the eventual realization of self-reliance in agriculture.