Cabinet approves two agriculture schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore, all existing schemes will continue – details

Farming Reuters 1727976964

On Thursday, the Union Cabinet approved two major agriculture schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore to promote sustainable agriculture and ensure food security. The names of these schemes are ‘PM Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana’ (PM-RKVY) and ‘Krishi Unnati Yojana’ (KYC). While the PM-RKVY scheme will promote sustainable farming, the Krishi Unnati scheme will be dedicated to food security and self-reliance in the field of farming. According to an official statement, in an important meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, a proposal was approved to rationalize all the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) run under the Ministry of Agriculture as two major schemes. 

A total of Rs 1,01,321.61 crore will be spent

The government said in a post on X that a total of Rs 1,01,321.61 crore will be spent on these two agriculture schemes. Rs 57,074.72 crore will be spent for PM-RKVY and Rs 44,246.89 crore will be spent for Krishonnati Yojana. 18 existing agriculture schemes have also been included in these two schemes. The central government runs these schemes through the state governments.

All existing plans will continue

According to the official statement, all the schemes currently running will continue. Wherever it was considered necessary to promote any sector for the welfare of farmers, the scheme has been taken in mission mode. A ‘Detailed Project Report’ component has been added to the ‘Mission Organic Value Chain Development for Northeast Region’ (MOVCDNER) scheme, a component of the Krishonnati scheme. This will give flexibility to the states of the Northeast to address important challenges. 

State governments will be able to make comprehensive plans

The government said that rationalisation of these agriculture schemes will enable state governments to formulate a comprehensive strategic plan for the agriculture sector according to their needs. The strategic document not only focuses on production and yield of crops but also mentions the emerging issues of climate-friendly agriculture and development of value chain approach for agricultural products. 

It will help in focusing on the challenges related to farming

The government said that various schemes have been rationalised to avoid duplication, ensure convergence and provide flexibility to the states. This will help in focusing on emerging challenges of agriculture such as nutritional security, sustainability, climate resilience, value chain development and private sector participation. 

State governments will get facility

In PM-RKVY, state governments will be given the flexibility to allocate funds from one component to another based on the specific needs of their state. PM-RKVY includes Soil Health Management, Rain-fed Area Development, Agroforestry, Traditional Agriculture Development Scheme, Agricultural Mechanization, Per Drop More Crop, Crop Diversification Program, RKVY DPR Component and Catalytic Fund for Agricultural Startups.