PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana: Convergence of 36 Schemes in 100 Low-Productivity Districts, Selection Criteria, Monitoring and the Aspirational Districts Model (UPSC Notes + PYQs)

The problem it addresses

Drive from a district in western Uttar Pradesh to one in Bundelkhand and the farms look different. In one, two or even three crops a year, canal water, a cold store near the market and a bank branch that lends readily. In the other, a single rain-fed crop, little irrigation, no warehouse nearby and a farmer who borrows from a moneylender. Indian agriculture is not one story but hundreds of district stories, and the gap between the best and the worst is wide. Wheat yields in Punjab are more than double those in many eastern districts; rice yields vary several times across the country.

For decades, the response has been a long list of central schemes: one for irrigation, one for seeds, one for soil health, one for credit, one for storage. Each reaches the district through a separate channel with separate targets. The result is often scattered effort: an irrigation tank here, a seed kit there, without a single plan for raising output in that place. The PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, tries to tie these strands into one knot at the district level.

Key features

• Approval and launch: Cabinet approval on 16 July 2025; launched by the Prime Minister on 11 October 2025, along with the pulses mission.
• Duration and money: six years from 2025-26, with an annual outlay of about ₹24,000 crore drawn from the budgets of the converging schemes.
• Coverage: 100 districts, at least one in every State and Union Territory.
• Convergence: 36 schemes across 11 departments, plus State schemes and local partnerships with the private sector.
• Five aims: raise productivity; promote crop diversification and sustainable practices; expand post-harvest storage at panchayat and block level; improve irrigation; and widen access to short and long-term credit.

How districts are chosen

Selection uses three measurable indicators, so that the scheme reaches places that lag on all fronts:

The number of districts in each State depends on its share of net cropped area and operational holdings. Many selected districts lie in the rain-fed belts of central and eastern India, the hill States and the North-East.

How it runs on the ground

Each district prepares a District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan through a District Dhan-Dhaanya Samiti chaired by the District Collector, with progressive farmers as members. The plan is matched to national goals such as crop diversification, water and soil conservation, self-reliance in pulses and oilseeds, and natural and organic farming. Committees at State and national levels oversee it.

Progress is tracked monthly on 117 key performance indicators through a digital dashboard. NITI Aayog reviews and guides the district plans, and central nodal officers visit each district. Districts are ranked, which creates competition among them, a method borrowed from the Aspirational Districts Programme (2018). Agricultural universities and Krishi Vigyan Kendras act as technical partners.

Schemes that come together

Why it matters

• Raising the floor: national averages hide the weakest districts. Lifting them gives larger gains for each rupee than pushing already-high yields higher.
• Food and nutrition security: more pulses, oilseeds, millets and livestock in these districts helps both farm income and diets.
• Farmer income: a second crop through irrigation or a better price through storage can transform a small farmer’s year.
• Better use of existing money: convergence avoids duplication and makes schemes work as a package.
• Cooperative federalism: the Centre sets goals, but districts and States plan, which suits farming, a State subject in the Seventh Schedule.
• Climate resilience: many target districts are rain-fed and drought-prone; water harvesting and diverse crops cut risk.

Concerns

• No fresh money: since funds come from existing schemes, critics ask whether the 100 districts gain at the cost of others.
• Coordination is hard: 11 departments have their own rules, timelines and data systems; a Collector must juggle them on top of many other duties.
• Dashboard bias: 117 indicators can push officials to chase numbers that are easy to report rather than real change.
• Land and tenancy: small, fragmented holdings and insecure tenants limit investment, and these issues lie outside the scheme.
• Market prices: higher output without assured prices or market access can push prices down at harvest.
• State capacity: extension services are thin; a single agriculture officer often covers thousands of farmers.

Way forward

Give districts some untied money so plans are not limited by scheme silos. Strengthen Krishi Vigyan Kendras and digital advisory through Agristack, so that every farmer gets crop and weather advice. Link output growth to storage, processing and farmer producer organisations, so that farmers capture more of the value. Pair the scheme with procurement and price support for pulses and oilseeds. Use independent third-party evaluation in addition to the dashboard. Encourage water-saving crops in water-stressed districts. Above all, measure success by farm incomes and soil and water health, not only by tonnes produced.

PYQ trend

Mains GS-III asks about farm subsidies, technology missions, food security and agricultural marketing. Prelims asks about schemes, public investment in agriculture and sustainable farming practices.

PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana: UPSC angle

PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana UPSC PYQs (Prelims)

Questions UPSC has actually asked, from the official papers. Pick an option to check yourself.

Mains PYQs on this topic

Questions from the official UPSC Mains papers (2023-2026 in the Battle IAS Mains bank), newest first. Each links to a model answer.

1. UPSC Mains 2026 · GS Paper III · Q13 · 15 marks

   How Indian agriculture has been transformed from food scarcity to food surplus level? Explain the various government policies implemented for diversification of Indian agriculture.

   Model answer and approach

2. UPSC Mains 2026 · GS Paper III · Q14 · 15 marks

   Discuss the different types of subsidies and supports provided by the Government of India to agricultural sector. Examine the related issues pertaining to Agreement on Agriculture of World Trade Organisation (WTO).

   Model answer and approach

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