New Delhi, July 16 : The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the 'Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana' for six years, beginning 2025-26, to cover 100 districts. The scheme draws inspiration from NITI Aayog's Aspirational District Programme, a first-of-its-kind initiative focusing exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors. It aims to enhance agricultural productivity, increase adoption of crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, augment post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate availability of long-term and short-term credit, according to the official statement.The scheme was announced as part of the Budget proposals for 2025-26 to develop 100 districts under 'Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana'. The scheme will be implemented through the convergence of 36 existing schemes across 11 Departments, other State schemes and local partnerships with the private sector. As many as 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, according to an official statement.

Committees will be formed at the District, State and National level for effective planning, implementation and monitoring of the Scheme. A District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan will be finalised 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. The progress of the scheme in each Dhan-Dhaanya district will be monitored on 117 key Performance Indicators through a dashboard monthly.

NITI Aayog will also review and guide the district plans. Besides, Central Nodal Officers appointed for each district will also review the scheme regularly, the statement explained. As the targeted outcomes in these 100 districts 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 sectors, local livelihood creation and hence increase domestic production and achieve self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat). As the indicators of these 100 districts improve, the national indicators will automatically show an upward trajectory, the statement added.

/IANS