PM Launches Two Agricultural Schemes with Over Rs 35,000 Crore Outlay; Criticizes Congress for 'Neglecting' Farm Sector

PTI NEW DELHI, OCT 11, 2025 :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched two major agricultural schemes with an outlay of Rs 35,440 crore to boost pulses production and improve farm sector growth in 100 low-performing districts. He exhorted farmers to reduce the country's import dependence and increase exports.

Modi, in a special event at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa campus here, launched a Rs 24,000-crore 'Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana' (PM-DDKY) and a Rs 11,440-crore 'Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses.' He also inaugurated projects valued at over Rs 5,450 crore in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, and food processing sectors, and laid the foundation stone for additional projects worth around Rs 815 crore.

During his 30-minute address, the Prime Minister attacked the Congress governments for not having any vision or strategy for the growth of agriculture and allied sectors, which he claimed weakened the farm ecosystem.

Talking about the two new big schemes, the Prime Minister said that the Centre would invest over Rs 35,000 crore in PM-DDKY and the pulses mission, which he said would change the "fate of crores of farmers." The two schemes, already approved by the Cabinet, will be implemented from the upcoming rabi (winter) season until 2030-31.

Modi underscored that farmers have a critical role to play in realizing the vision of a developed India (Viksit Bharat) by 2047.

"You (farmers) have made India self-reliant in food grains post-Independence. Now, you have a crucial role in making India a developed nation (Viksit Bharat). On one hand, we have to become self-reliant (in food), while on the other hand, we should produce for the global market. Friends, we need to knock the doors of the international market," the Prime Minister said, urging farmers to focus on crops that have global demand.

"We have to reduce our imports and we should not fall behind in increasing exports," he said, adding that the two new schemes will play a major role in achieving these twin objectives.

Modi urged farmers to diversify beyond wheat and rice, focusing on pulses to ensure protein security. Despite being the world's largest pulses producer and consumer, India still depends on imports, he pointed out. Under the pulses mission, the Prime Minister said the aim is to increase pulses acreage by 35 lakh hectares by 2030 to boost production and achieve self-reliance. The mission targets raising pulses output from the current 252.38 lakh tonnes to 350 lakh tonnes by 2030-31.

The PM-DDKY, modeled on the government's Aspirational Districts Programme, will target 100 low-performing agricultural districts and integrate 36 schemes from different ministries, he said.

Accusing previous Congress governments of neglecting the farm sector, Modi said the Opposition party lacked "vision" and strategy for the growth of this crucial sector. The Prime Minister said it is important that the farm sector receives government support, but he rued that previous governments left agriculture to fend for itself.

"There was no vision from the government side for agriculture. There was no strategy," the Prime Minister said, adding that the different government departments related to agriculture functioned independently.