New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched two landmark agricultural schemes worth ₹35,440 crore, marking a major step toward transforming India’s farm economy and ensuring self-reliance in key crops. Announced at a special “Krishi programme” held at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, the initiatives — PM Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (₹24,000 crore) and Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses (₹11,440 crore) — aim to modernize rural infrastructure, enhance productivity, and reduce import dependence.
The PM Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana focuses on improving 100 underperforming agricultural districts by boosting productivity, promoting crop diversification, expanding post-harvest storage at the Panchayat level, improving irrigation facilities, and providing easier access to farm credit. Meanwhile, the Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses seeks to strengthen India’s self-sufficiency in pulses through higher yields, expanded cultivation, improved storage and processing, and better supply chain efficiency.
In his address, PM Modi called upon farmers to increase pulse cultivation, setting an ambitious target to bring 35 lakh additional hectares under pulses by 2030 to reduce imports. Alongside these launches, the Prime Minister also inaugurated infrastructure projects worth ₹5,450 crore and laid foundation stones for new ventures valued at ₹815 crore across agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, and food processing sectors.
Key projects include Artificial Insemination Training Centers in Bengaluru and Jammu & Kashmir, Centers of Excellence in Gujarat, IVF labs under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission, milk powder plants in major dairy hubs, and fish feed plants with integrated cold-chain systems. Highlighting progress from previous initiatives, PM Modi noted that over 50 lakh farmers have joined 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), with more than 1,100 achieving turnovers above ₹1 crore, along with the certification of 50,000 natural farming practitioners and strengthening of PACS and e-PACS systems.
The new schemes, designed to boost productivity and empower farmers, are expected to usher in a new era of sustainable, tech-driven, and self-reliant agriculture in India.
