The Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY), a six-year agricultural development programme, has completed its first year of implementation. Approved by the Union Cabinet on 16 July 2025 and launched on 11 October 2025, the scheme targets 100 districts identified as having low agricultural productivity, low cropping intensity, and limited credit disbursement. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is coordinating the initiative, which works by converging 36 central government schemes across 11 ministries with state-level and private sector efforts.
Key facts
- 100 Aspirational Agricultural Districts identified across all states and union territories
- Union Cabinet approval: 16 July 2025; formal launch: 11 October 2025
- Programme duration: six years beginning 2025-26
- Implementation through convergence of 36 central schemes across 11 ministries
- 121 indicators (74 output and 47 outcome) track progress across the scheme
- Average district score improved from 18.85 in April 2026 to 46.89 in August 2026
- All 100 districts have prepared and are implementing District Action Plans (DAPs)
- PM-DDKY FPO Sangam in December 2025 brought together 72 Farmer Producer Organisations from 15 states
- PMDDKY dashboard operational since late October 2025 for monthly performance tracking
How the scheme works
The PMDDKY operates through a three-tier structure. At the district level, a committee headed by the District Collector prepares and implements a District Action Plan tailored to local agricultural needs. At the state level, a committee chaired by the Chief Secretary reviews and monitors these district plans. Nationally, two committees oversee implementation: the National Executive Committee headed by the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and the National Monitoring Committee headed by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Each District Action Plan identifies specific local challenges and solutions by bringing together relevant central and state schemes. The plans set outcome-based targets, annual milestones, and link interventions to existing schemes. This allows fund release and necessary approvals through state departments. Central Nodal Officers regularly review progress and guide districts.
Selection of districts
The 100 districts were chosen using three primary indicators: low productivity, low cropping intensity, and low agricultural credit disbursement. The selection also considered the share of net cropped area and operational farm holdings in each state and union territory. Each state and union territory has at least one selected district, ensuring pan-India coverage.
Performance in first year
The PMDDKY dashboard, launched in late October 2025, tracks performance using 121 indicators across the 36 schemes. Monthly output-indicator rankings began in November 2025, creating transparent, comparable performance data across all 100 districts. By August 2026, all 100 districts had submitted data against output indicators, and all had also submitted outcome indicator data for the financial year 2025-26.
Objective-wise improvements from April 2026 to August 2026 included: enhancing agricultural productivity (1.50 to 8.08), encouraging crop diversification and sustainable practices (4.08 to 10.18), augmenting post-harvest storage capacity (2.14 to 5.19), improving irrigation infrastructure (1.38 to 4.91), enabling greater access to agricultural credit (2.40 to 6.53), and better governance and service delivery (7.41 to 12.05).
Early successes
In Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, the Desaiganj Farmers Producer Co-operative Ltd., a farmer collective with 800 members, established a rice processing unit with 3 tonnes per hour capacity and a 900 metric tonne warehouse. This enabled value addition and higher prices for its rice variety, generating turnover of Rs 1.24 crore in 2025-26.
In Tumakuru, Karnataka, the Tiptur Farmer Producer Co-operative Ltd., representing 750 farmers, supplies ball copra to an international buyer, achieving superior market prices. The cooperative recorded turnover of Rs 1.60 crore in 2025-26 and had aggregated over 138 tonnes of copra valued at Rs 1.9 crore by September 2026.
In Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, the Jaisalmer Krishi Fed Producer Co-operative Ltd. with 1,236 members uses solar-powered sprinkler irrigation across 500 acres of cumin cultivation, combining efficient water management with renewable energy and improved productivity across 2,000 acres.
What this means for you
If you are a farmer in one of the 100 selected districts, the scheme can help you access improved irrigation infrastructure, better credit facilities, and post-harvest storage facilities suited to your local produce. Farmer Producer Organisations in these districts gain platforms to share knowledge and access better market linkages. The scheme is designed to increase farm productivity and income through tailored local interventions rather than one-size-fits-all policies.
For students preparing for competitive exams or seeking to understand agricultural policy, this programme demonstrates the government’s shift toward convergence-based development that brings multiple schemes together at the district level rather than implementing them separately.