The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the "Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana" for a duration of six years starting from 2025-26 in 100 districts.

The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana is inspired by NITI Aayog’s Aspirational District Programme and is the first such scheme to be launched with a dedicated focus on agriculture and allied sectors.

The objective of the scheme is to boost productivity on farms, promote crop diversification and sustainable farming methods, strengthen post-harvest storage at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation systems and ensure better access to both long-term and short-term agricultural credit.

The scheme is in line with the Budget announcement for 2025-26 which proposed the development of 100 districts under the "Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana".

It will be implemented by bringing together 36 existing schemes across 11 departments, along with support from various state schemes and partnerships with the local private sector.

The 100 districts will be selected based on three main indicators, which are low farm productivity, low cropping intensity and weak credit flow in agriculture.

The number of districts chosen from each state or union territory will depend on its share of Net Cropped Area and the number of operational land holdings, while ensuring that every state gets at least one district covered under the scheme.

Committees will be created at the national, state and district levels to handle the planning, execution and tracking of the scheme.

A District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan will be prepared by the District Dhan Dhaanya Samiti, which will also include progressive farmers as members.

Each district plan will be aligned with national goals such as promoting crop diversification, conserving water and soil, achieving self-reliance in farming and allied activities and encouraging natural and organic agriculture.

The progress of the scheme in all selected Dhan-Dhaanya districts will be monitored using 117 key performance indicators and evaluated every month through a dedicated dashboard.

NITI Aayog will also review and guide the preparation and progress of district-level plans.

In addition, Central Nodal Officers assigned to each district will carry out regular reviews of the scheme.

As these 100 districts show better performance, the national average across key indicators will also improve.

This scheme will help raise agricultural productivity, support value addition in farming and related sectors, create employment in rural areas, boost domestic production and contribute towards achieving self-reliance under Atmanirbhar Bharat.

As these 100 districts perform better, national-level indicators will naturally reflect an upward trend.