Modi launches 2 agri schemes worth Rs 35K cr

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched two major agriculture schemes — PM Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) and the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, with a total outlay of Rs 35,440 crore. The event coincided with the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Jayaprakash Narayan.

Launching the two new schemes, Modi said, “These two schemes will transform the fortunes of millions of Indian farmers.

The Indian government is planning to spend more than Rs 35,000 crore on these schemes.”

During the ceremony, the Prime Minister also launched 1,054 other projects worth Rs 3,650 crore completed using the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF). He also inaugurated and laid the foundation of several projects in the animal husbandry, fisheries, and food processing sectors.

The food processing projects were launched under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana and the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI), while the fisheries projects worth Rs 693 crore came under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund. The PMDDKY and the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses were announced in the Union Budget 2025-26 and were approved by the Cabinet recently. Designed on the lines of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), the PMDDKY is aimed at developing 100 agricultural districts based on three parameters — low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average access to credit. While the PMDDKY does not have a separate budget, its outlay of Rs 24,000 crore will come from the convergence of various schemes.

The Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses, aimed at expanding the area under pulses to 310 lakh hectares, increasing production to 350 lakh tonnes, and raising yield to 1130 kg/ha by 2030-31, was approved by the Union Cabinet on October 1. It will be implemented over six years, from 2025-26 to 2030-31, with a financial outlay of Rs 11,440 crore. The Mission for Self-Reliance in Pulses is not just a mission to increase pulse production but also “a campaign to empower our future generation,” he said. The Prime Minister criticized previous governments for neglecting agriculture. “It’s crucial that agriculture continues to receive government support as times change. Unfortunately, previous governments abandoned agriculture to its own conditions. For 21st-century India to achieve rapid development, reforms in our agricultural system were essential. This began in 2014. We reversed the previous government’s careless approach to agriculture. We implemented countless reforms and improvements for the benefit of all of you farmers, from seeds to markets. The results are evident today,” he said, highlighting the increase in agricultural production in the last 10 years. Contrasting Congress’s rule from 2004-14 with the NDA government’s accomplishments over the last decade, PM Modi said, “The Congress government provided a fertilizer subsidy of Rs 5 lakh crore in its 10 years…Our government, the BJP-NDA government, has provided fertilizer subsidies of more than Rs 13 lakh crore in the last 10 years.”