What Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana aims to achieve, how PMDKY will be implemented

Sub: Schemes

Sec: Agri

Context:

The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDKY) was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget
The scheme is inspired by the success of the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) launched in 2018, and aims to enhance agricultural practices in 100 districts.

About PMDKY:

The PMDKY is modelled on ADP’s structure but is focused specifically on agricultural districts.
It will target 100 districts in India, selected based on three key parameters:
- Low productivity in agriculture.
- Moderate cropping intensity.
- Below-average credit parameters for farmers.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is collecting data on these parameters to identify the districts that will benefit from the scheme.
Funding will be sourced from various existing schemes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying.

Objectives of PMDKY:

Enhancing agricultural productivity.
Adopting crop diversification and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Augmenting post-harvest storage facilities at the panchayat and block levels.
Improving irrigation facilities for more efficient water usage.
Facilitating the availability of both long-term and short-term credit to farmers.

Cropping Intensity:

Definition: Cropping intensity refers to the efficiency of land use and is expressed as the percentage of the gross cropped area relative to the net area sown.
It reflects the number of crops grown on a piece of land in one agricultural year.
The all-India cropping intensity for 2021-22 was 155%, showing a significant improvement from 111% in 1950-51.

Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP):

Launched in January 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The goal was to fast-track the development of 112 of India’s most under-developed districts, based on 3Cs:
- Convergence of Central and State schemes.
- Collaboration of government officers at the Central, State, and district levels.
- Competition among districts based on their progress in monthly rankings.
The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators under 5 broad socio-economic themes: Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and infrastructure.