Baramulla, Kishtwar Chosen for Agriculture Push Under PMDDKY | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Two districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Baramulla and Kishtwar, have been selected under the newly approved Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a six year national agriculture programme, aimed at lifting productivity in lagging agrarian regions across the country.

The Union government informed the Lok Sabha that the scheme, approved by the Cabinet on July 16, 25, will be implemented from 2025–26 in 100 identified aspirational agriculture districts, including the two districts from Jammu and Kashmir. The selection places the Union Territory among regions flagged for low agricultural productivity, poor cropping intensity and limited access to institutional credit, which form the core criteria for inclusion under PMDDKY.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, PMDDKY is designed as a convergence-driven scheme, bringing together 36 existing central schemes, along with state programmes and private partnerships. The objective is to address structural weaknesses in agriculture by improving crop productivity, promoting diversification and sustainable practices, strengthening irrigation, and expanding post-harvest storage infrastructure at the panchayat and block levels. The scheme also seeks to ease access to both long-term and short-term agricultural credit, a persistent bottleneck in many hill and border districts, including parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Officials said the identification of the 100 districts was based on three quantifiable indicators: lower-than-average crop yields, low cropping intensity, and weak credit disbursement. In Jammu and Kashmir, Baramulla and Kishtwar have long faced challenges linked to fragmented landholdings, difficult terrain, dependence on rainfed agriculture and limited market access, making them eligible under the scheme’s framework.

To ensure close monitoring, the government has put in place a three-tier institutional mechanism at the district, state and national levels. Each selected district will prepare a District Action Plan through a Dhan Dhaanya Samiti headed by the district collector, with inputs from farmers, panchayat representatives and other local stakeholders. These plans will be overseen at the state level by a committee chaired by the chief secretary, while overall progress will be tracked through a monthly digital dashboard based on key performance indicators.

The Centre has also appointed Central Nodal Officers for each PMDDKY district, tasked with regular field visits and on-ground reviews of implementation. The Ministry said this monitoring structure is intended to ensure outcome-based assessment rather than mere expenditure tracking.
Responding to queries on the scope of interventions, the government confirmed that post-harvest storage expansion, farm mechanisation and short-term credit support are integral components of PMDDKY, to be delivered through the convergence of existing schemes rather than through standalone funding windows.

However, the Centre made it clear that no proposal is currently under consideration to add more districts beyond the identified 100.