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Subject: Agriculture

  • Next generation aquaculture: Recirculatory Aquaculture System and Biofloc technology in the Blue Economy

    Next generation aquaculture: Recirculatory Aquaculture System and Biofloc technology in the Blue Economy

    Why in the News

    India is the world’s second-largest fish producer and second-largest aquaculture producer. India is also the largest producer and exporter of shrimp. The fisheries sector supports the livelihoods of nearly 3 crore fishers and fish farmers. Government initiatives are promoting Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and Biofloc technology under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY).

    Growth of India’s Fisheries Sector

    • Annual fish production increased from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 198 lakh tonnes in 2024-25.
    • Inland fisheries and aquaculture production increased by 147%, from 61.36 lakh tonnes to 151.60 lakh tonnes.
    • Seafood exports increased from ₹30,213 crore in 2013-14 to ₹73,890 crore in 2025-26.
    • Since 2015, cumulative government investments exceeding ₹39,272 crore have supported the fisheries sector.

    Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS)

    • RAS is an intensive fish farming system based on water treatment and recirculation.
    • Water is continuously treated and reused to maintain suitable conditions for fish growth.
    • It can recycle up to 90-95% of water.
    • Enables fish farming in areas where conventional aquaculture may not be feasible.
    • Allows production units to be located closer to urban markets and export hubs.
    • Supports year-round fish production, better biosecurity and controlled farming conditions.

    Biofloc Technology

    • Biofloc is an intensive aquaculture technique that uses beneficial microorganisms.
    • Microorganisms help improve water quality by utilising organic wastes and nutrients.
    • The microbial biomass forms flocs, which can also provide nutritional benefits to cultured fish.
    • Enables intensive production with efficient use of water and nutrients.
    • Particularly useful where land and water availability are limited.

    Government Support under PMMSY

    • 9,467 RAS units have been approved.
    • 4,573 Biofloc units have been approved.
    • Around ₹4,120 crore has been invested under PMMSY for these technologies.
    • These systems are helping shift aquaculture towards intensive, commercially viable and resource-efficient production.

    Importance for Blue Economy

    • Resource efficiency: Reduces water consumption and improves waste utilisation.
    • Higher productivity: Facilitates intensive and year-round fish farming.
    • Geographical expansion: Allows aquaculture in diverse agro-climatic conditions.
    • Export competitiveness: Improves quality, traceability and biosecurity.
    • Employment: Creates opportunities across production, processing, marketing and exports.
    • High-value aquaculture: Supports species such as shrimp, trout, seabass, tilapia, murrel and pangasius.
    • Entrepreneurship: Promotes specialised activities such as ornamental fish farming.

    Geographical Applications

    • Controlled systems: Ornamental fish and other specialised aquaculture activities.
    • Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh: Cold-water aquaculture, particularly trout.
    • Saline and brackish-water areas: Export-oriented shrimp farming.

    [2023] With reference to the role of biofilters in Recirculating Aquaculture System, consider the following statements:

    1. Biofilters provide waste treatment by removing uneaten fish feed.

    2. Biofilters convert ammonia present in fish waste to nitrate.

    3. Biofilters increase phosphorus as nutrient for fish in water.

    How many of the statements given above are correct?

    (a) Only one

    (b) Only two

    (c) All three

    (d) None.

  • Jute: India’s Golden Fibre

    Jute: India’s Golden Fibre

    Why in the News

    India is the world’s largest producer of raw jute. India produced 94.03 lakh bales of jute and mesta in 2025-26. India is also the leading producer of jute goods globally, accounting for around 75% of estimated world production. The sector supports nearly 40 lakh farm families and provides direct employment to around 3.70 lakh workers. Jute’s biodegradable and recyclable nature makes it an important alternative to synthetic materials.

    Jute: The Golden Fibre

    • Jute is called the “Golden Fibre” because of its golden colour and silky lustre.
    • Jute + Mesta are collectively classified as raw jute due to their similar end uses.
    • Mesta is a bast fibre crop and can serve as an alternative to jute, particularly in drier regions.
    • Major producing states: West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, and Jharkhand
    • West Bengal has the largest concentration of jute mills.

    Agro-climatic Conditions

    • Requires hot and humid conditions.
    • Rainfall: around 700-1,500 mm during the growing period.
    • Generally sown during March-April.
    • Harvested within 100-110 days.
    • Cultivation is concentrated in eastern and northeastern India.
    • Predominantly rainfed and mainly cultivated by small and marginal farmers.

    Importance of Jute

    • Biodegradable and recyclable natural fibre.
    • Strong, durable, breathable and versatile.
    • Used in: Packaging, Agriculture, Construction, Industrial textiles, Technical textiles
    • Provides thermal and acoustic insulation.
    • Has high moisture absorption and low static generation.
    • Can be blended with natural and synthetic fibres for value-added products.

    Jute Geotextiles

    • Jute Geotextile (JGT) is a technical textile made from jute fibres.
    • Used for: Soil erosion control, Slope and embankment protection, Riverbank and canal protection, Road construction, Railway track formation, Drainage systems, Soft-soil stabilisation
    • Being biodegradable, it supports soil restoration and ecological regeneration.
    • Helps regulate soil temperature and reduce surface disturbance, supporting seed germination and plant establishment.

    Government Initiatives

    Minimum Support Price

    • MSP of raw jute for 2026-27: ₹5,925 per quintal.
    • Provides a 61.8% return over the all-India weighted average cost of production.
    • MSP increased from ₹2,400 per quintal in 2014-15.

    Jute Corporation of India (JCI)

    • Sole nodal agency for implementing MSP policy for raw jute.
    • Procures directly from farmers when market prices fall below MSP.
    • Operates through Departmental Purchase Centres (DPCs).

    National Jute Development Programme (NJDP)

    • Umbrella programme for development and promotion of the jute sector.
    • Implemented by the National Jute Board (NJB).
    • Focuses on:
      • Increasing farm productivity and farmer incomes.
      • Jute diversification.
      • Market development.
      • Promotion of jute as an alternative to plastics.

    JUTE-ICARE

    Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise

    • Launched in 2015-16.
    • Promotes scientific cultivation, mechanisation and improved retting.
    • Supports farmers through certified seeds and field demonstrations.
    • Implemented with CRIJAF and JCI.

    Jute Diversification Scheme

    Promotes value addition through:

    • Jute Raw Material Banks
    • Jute Resource-cum-Production Centres
    • Capital subsidy for machinery
    • Jute retail outlets
    • Export incentives for jute diversified products

    Jute Packaging

    • The Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act provides for mandatory use of jute packaging for specified commodities.
    • Government mandates jute packaging for: 100% of foodgrains, and 20% of sugar

    Digital Initiatives

    JUTE-SMART

    • End-to-end e-governance platform for procurement and supply of jute sacking bags.
    • Developed by the Office of the Jute Commissioner.
    • Digitises procurement, registration and compliance processes.

    Jute Crop Information System

    • Developed by ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in collaboration with JCI and NJB.
    • Uses remote sensing and field data to monitor jute cultivation.
    • BHUVAN JUMP: Mobile application for field-level jute monitoring.
    • PATSAN: Web-based platform providing near-real-time jute surveillance and analytics.

    Jute and Sustainable Development

    • Contributes to rural employment, environmental sustainability and green industrialisation.
    • Provides an alternative to plastic and synthetic materials.
    • Supports farmers, workers, artisans and MSMEs.
    • Promotes technical textiles through products such as jute geotextiles.
    • Creates opportunities for value addition and exports.

    [2011] The lower Gangetic plain is characterized by a humid climate with high temperature throughout the year. Which one among the following pairs of crops is most suitable for this region?

    (a) Paddy and cotton

    (b) Wheat and Jute

    (c) Paddy and Jute

    (d) Wheat and cotton.

  • Ladakh clears new ‘nautor land’ regularisation rules, paves way for grant of proprietary rights

    Why in the News

    The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh has approved the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Nautor Regularisation) Rules, 2026. The Rules create a one time mechanism to grant proprietary rights over nautor land to the people already occupying it, across all seven districts of the Union Territory. Eligibility is pegged to possession taken before 27 October 2020, the date on which the Jammu and Kashmir Tenancy Act, 1980 was repealed. The power to allot the land is vested in the elected Hill Councils rather than in the Union Territory administration. The stated aim is to balance the interests of genuine occupants against the protection of public and Council land from encroachment, which is the line the Rules must now hold in a territory where more than 60,000 acres sit in this single revenue category.

    What is nautor land?

    1. The category: Nautor land is barren land or wasteland owned by the government.
    2. How it came to be occupied: Such land was historically allotted to individuals for cultivation or other productive use.
    3. The scale in Ladakh: More than 60,000 acres in Ladakh is presently recorded in revenue records as nautor holdings.
    4. The gap the Rules address: Occupants held and worked the land without proprietary title over it.

    What do the 2026 Rules provide?

    1. A proprietary grant with a ceiling: Proprietary rights may be granted over up to 10 acres of eligible nautor land to the occupant.
    2. A leasehold route above the ceiling: Nautor land beyond the 10 acre limit may be allotted on a leasehold basis.
    3. A single cut off date: Regularisation is available only for land occupied before 27 October 2020, and any possession taken after that date is ineligible.
    4. Uniform application: The framework applies to occupants across all seven districts of Ladakh.
    5. A one time exercise: The mechanism is available once, and does not create a standing route to regularise later occupation.

    Where do the Hill Councils get the power to allot this land?

    1. Transfer of land to the Council: Under Section 42 of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997, land within a district stands transferred to the Council.
    2. Executive power over allotment: Clause (i) of Section 23 of the same Act vests executive powers in the Council in relation to the allotment, use and occupation of land vested in it.
    3. What this changes in practice: Title over former government wasteland is granted by an elected district body rather than by the Union Territory revenue administration.

    What changes for an occupant once title is granted?

    1. Legal certainty over possession: A recorded proprietary right replaces occupation that rested on an old allotment or on long use.
    2. The land becomes a financial asset: Titled land can be pledged, so an occupant can use it to avail bank loans.
    3. Two grades of right, not one: An occupant above the ceiling receives a lease rather than ownership, so the holding remains Council land.
    4. A boundary against fresh claims: The cut off is what separates a genuine holder from a claim raised after the repeal of the tenancy law.

    Challenges to the nautor regularisation framework

    1. Proving possession before a cut off date: Regularisation turns on documentary proof of occupation before a date five years past, in a territory where much land is recorded simply as government wasteland. Eg. Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, individual claims were rejected in large numbers across hill States for want of documentary proof of occupation before the statutory cut off.
      The Fix: Allow the Hill Council to accept community verified evidence of possession, including village records and dated satellite imagery of cultivation, in place of a title deed.
    2. Common grazing land can be enclosed as private holdings: High altitude pasture carries no individual title and is recorded in the same wasteland category the Rules open up. Eg. The Changpa herders of Changthang, who rear the goats that supply pashmina, depend on open rangeland held by no individual.
      The Fix: Exclude recorded grazing land and migratory routes from eligibility, and settle common pasture rights in the name of the village before individual titles issue.
    3. Cultivation expands where water does not: Bringing more barren land under the plough in a cold desert raises demand on streams that already run short at sowing time. Eg. Ice stupas were developed in Ladakh to store winter water precisely because glacier fed channels do not deliver water when spring sowing begins.
      The Fix: Condition regularisation of land held for cultivation on a water availability assessment by the district administration.
    4. A safeguard made by rule can be unmade by rule: The eligibility limits and the cut off sit in subordinate rules, so the same executive authority can revise them later. Eg. Ladakh’s demand for constitutional safeguards on land and employment has been under discussion with the Ministry of Home Affairs since 2023.
      The Fix: Carry the ceiling, the cut off and the exclusion of common land into primary legislation, so the terms of allotment are not alterable by executive rule making.

    Conclusion

    The Rules are approved and the allotment power now rests with the Hill Councils in every district of Ladakh. Notification settles the framework but not its outcome, since the exercise runs on claims that must be verified holding by holding. The markers to watch are the district level verification process the Councils adopt, and whether common pasture is fenced off from the exercise before individual titles begin to issue.

    Back2Basics: Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils

    1. What they are: Elected district councils exercising devolved powers over local development and land use in Ladakh.
    2. Their statutory basis: They function under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997.
    3. Where they exist: The Leh Council was constituted in 1995 and the Kargil Council in 2003.
    4. Their composition: Each Council has 30 members, of whom 26 are directly elected and four are nominated, with a term of five years.

    [2023, GS3, 10 marks] State the objectives and measures of land reforms in India. Discuss how land ceiling policy on landholding can be considered as an effective reform under economic criteria”

  • Inside Jharkhand & Bihar’s 25-year Sone river dispute

    Inside Jharkhand & Bihar’s 25-year Sone river dispute

    Why in the News

    Bihar and Jharkhand have signed an inter State memorandum of understanding dividing Sone river water, with 5.75 million acre feet (MAF, the volume that would cover a million acres to a depth of one foot) going to Bihar and 2 MAF to Jharkhand.

    Why did a 1973 allocation stop working after 2000?

    1. The river’s course: The Sone flows generally northward from its upper catchments in Madhya Pradesh, passes through Uttar Pradesh, runs along the Jharkhand Bihar boundary and joins the Ganga in Bihar.
    2. The original entitlement: The Bansagar Agreement of 1973, a tripartite agreement involving Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, allocated 7.75 MAF of Sone water to undivided Bihar out of the total basin yield.
    3. Bifurcation split the basin unevenly: Jharkhand inherited the major upper catchment areas and the tributaries, and the lower riparian agricultural hubs stayed with Bihar.
    4. No formula followed the division: After the State was divided, no binding formula existed to apportion that allocation between the two successor States.
    5. Two decades of stalled mediation: Committees attempted mediation over the last two decades, and talks repeatedly broke down over reservoir height, land submergence and volumetric splits.

    What does the new agreement actually settle?

    1. Jharkhand’s concession: Jharkhand agreed to specified reservoir water levels to minimise land submergence, backed by clear rehabilitation provisions.
    2. Bihar’s gain: Bihar receives additional water from the Indrapuri Barrage to irrigate farmland in its existing command.
    3. Jharkhand’s return: The pact enables new canal networks in the drought prone Palamu and Garhwa districts.
    4. What it unblocks: Long delayed irrigation, reservoir and river linking projects in the drought prone regions of both States are expected to move forward.

    What does the pact unlock on the ground?

    1. The diversion structure: The Indrapuri Barrage across the Sone in Rohtas district, built in the late 1960s, is the primary structure diverting water into the canal system.
    2. The canal command: The Sone canal network irrigates the Shahabad agricultural belt of Rohtas, Bhojpur, Buxar and Kaimur districts.
    3. The southern belt: The agreement guarantees critical irrigation supplies to the Magadh belt of south Bihar, including Aurangabad.
    4. The constraint was legal, not physical: The barrage and its canals already existed, so what was holding back their full use was the missing share rather than any limit of the structure.

    Why did the dispute stay politically live?

    1. No formal confrontation: The two States never reached a major State level confrontation over the water.
    2. An election season issue in Bihar: Leaders across party lines in the Shahabad and Magadh belts targeted the State government over water shortages in the Sone canal system during the summer sowing season.
    3. A displacement issue in Jharkhand: Leaders from Palamu and Garhwa raised the fear that raising the Indrapuri Dam’s height would submerge agricultural land and displace thousands without fair compensation.

    Challenges to the Sone water sharing arrangement

    1. A memorandum is not an award: The States have signed an administrative understanding rather than obtained a tribunal award under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, so no adjudicated instrument stands behind it. Eg. The Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 showed that a State legislature can move to repudiate water sharing agreements it had signed.
      The Fix: Constitute a joint control board with gauged and publicly reported releases at the barrage, so compliance is a matter of record rather than of assertion.
    2. A fixed volumetric split against a variable yield: The shares are stated in absolute volume even though the Sone is rain fed and its annual yield swings with the monsoon. Eg. The parent entitlement was itself fixed on basin yield estimates made in the early 1970s.
      The Fix: Convert the split into proportional shares of the actual annual yield, with a stated rule for how a deficit year is shared.
    3. Canal efficiency decides who receives water: An allocation at the barrage does not survive conveyance losses, so tail end farmers get less than the head reach whatever the agreement says. Eg. The Sone canal system dates from the 1870s and still delivers through long unlined earthen channels.
      The Fix: Line and modernise the main and distributary canals and meter deliveries at outlet level before the new water is credited to the command area.
    4. Rehabilitation commitments outrun delivery: Submergence limits rest on rehabilitation provisions whose record in Indian reservoir projects is poor. Eg. Families displaced by the Sardar Sarovar project on the Narmada were still contesting resettlement decades after the dam was cleared.
      The Fix: Publish a dated rehabilitation schedule with land for land entitlements settled before reservoir levels are raised.
    5. Groundwater has filled the gap: Farmers in the command have substituted diesel pumped groundwater for unreliable canal supply, and the pact says nothing about that substitution. Eg. Water tables across south Bihar fall sharply in the summer months when canal supply is weakest.
      The Fix: Sequence canal restoration with conjunctive use planning so surface deliveries replace pumping instead of adding to it.

    Conclusion

    An administrative understanding has closed a gap that two decades of mediation could not, and it has done so without creating any body able to enforce it. Compliance now rests on the continued willingness of two State governments, which is the same condition under which the previous arrangement failed. The marker to watch is whether releases are gauged and published, since an unmeasured share is what allows a settled formula to unravel quietly.

    Back2Basics: Sone river

    1. Source and course: The Sone rises on the Amarkantak plateau in Madhya Pradesh, close to the source of the Narmada, and flows north east to meet the Ganga.
    2. Its rank: It is the second largest of the Ganga’s southern tributaries after the Yamuna.
    3. Its regime: The river is rain fed, so it carries heavy monsoon flow and shrinks sharply through the dry season.
    4. Its tributaries: The North Koel, the Rihand and the Kanhar are among its principal tributaries.

    [2024, GS3, 15 marks] What are the major challenges faced by Indian irrigation system in recent times? State the measures taken by the government for efficient irrigation management.

  • [3rd September 2026] The Hindu OpED: Many layers

    [3rd September 2026] The Hindu OpED: Many layers

    Question (2024, GS3): “Elucidate the importance of buffer stocks for stabilizing agricultural prices in India. What are the challenges associated with the storage of buffer stock? Discuss.
    Linkage: This question directly addresses the core policy tool used in onion management: state-led procurement and buffer stocking to counter short-term price volatility. It highlights the storage and logistical bottlenecks that lead to post-harvest collapses.

    Mentor Comment

    Onion price management has again run through a sequence of export restrictions and post collapse procurement, and neither has protected the farmer or the consumer. Since the 1960s Indian food policy has balanced affordable consumer prices against remunerative producer prices, with state intervention aimed at managing short term volatility rather than the underlying cause. Erratic weather and the absence of long term relief have made that balancing act harder to hold. The tension is that every corrective step arrives after farmers have already made production decisions and after prices have already collapsed, so the intervention reaches neither all farmers nor all grades of produce.

    What has the Centre’s onion trade policy been since 2023?

    1. The export ban: The government banned onion exports from December 2023 to May 2024.
    2. The price floor that replaced it: A minimum export price of $550 per tonne was imposed, which sets the lowest price at which a consignment may legally leave the country and works as a soft restriction on exports. A 40 per cent export duty was imposed alongside it.
    3. The rollback: The duty was reduced to 20 per cent in September 2024 and abolished in April 2025.

    Why does intervention after the event fail farmers?

    1. Policy changes after the sowing decision: The government often changes its position after farmers have made production decisions based on the price they expected.
    2. The procurement price was below cost: During the rabi harvest, onion farmers in Maharashtra, the country’s principal supplier, argued that the Centre’s procurement price of ₹12.35 per kg would not cover cultivation costs.
    3. The correction came too late for many: The Centre subsequently raised the price to up to ₹26.45 per kg. Many farmers could not capture the higher value, including some who had already sold at ₹1 per kg because of low quality and lack of storage.
    4. Coverage is partial by grade: Intervening after prices have already collapsed does not reach all farmers or all grades of produce.

    What pressures exposed the flaw this year?

    1. Rainfall at the wrong point in the cycle: Abnormal rainfall at the time of harvest hit the crop directly.
    2. A kharif shortfall in the main supplying State: Maharashtra recorded a 5 per cent to 7 per cent drop in the kharif crop.
    3. Onion resists buffering: The known difficulties of storing onion and of maintaining large buffers compound every supply shock rather than absorbing it.
    4. Manipulation is the secondary issue: The government has alluded to some price manipulation, and the dominant problem remains that policy keeps reacting rather than acting in advance.

    What proactive measures does the record point to?

    1. Storage: Improving storage options is the first named measure, since it is what allows a crop to be held past a price trough.
    2. Trade policy stability: A less erratic trade policy would let farmers price the export channel into their sowing decisions.
    3. Inter regional movement: Moving stock more efficiently between regions addresses the distribution failure rather than the production one.
    4. Price shock protection: Protecting farmers against price shocks is the fourth measure, and it operates before a collapse rather than after it.

    Does Tamil Nadu’s targeted subsidy resolve the problem or move it?

    1. The design: Tamil Nadu will buy 1,000 tonnes of onions to distribute 1 kg per ration card at ₹35.
    2. What it gets right: The design discourages hoarding while allowing private retail prices to cool down.
    3. The delivery channel is the risk: Distribution runs through a dry grain public distribution system network, which was not built for a crop that spoils quickly.
    4. The economic case has a threshold: That case could collapse if post harvest losses exceed 10 per cent to 15 per cent, and onion is more susceptible to such losses than wheat or rice.
    5. Persistence is the second risk: The case also weakens if the subsidy has to be continued rather than used once.
    6. Replication would exhaust the buffer: If other States adopt similar measures, the Central buffer could be quickly exhausted, more so given this year’s high storage losses of around 30 per cent.
    7. Pressure transfers to the Centre: The State scheme will impose pressure on the Centre to maintain a steady supply behind it.

    Challenges to stabilising onion prices

    1. Onion is bulky, perishable and stored without a cold chain: Farm level storage relies on ventilated structures whose losses rise sharply in a wet post monsoon. Eg. The traditional onion chawls of Nashik are open sided sheds with no humidity control.
      The Fix: Link the storage capital subsidy to a verified ventilation and moisture standard rather than to built area alone.
    2. Production is geographically concentrated: A weather event in one district cluster moves the national price because supply is not spread across regions. Eg. Lasalgaon in Nashik sets the reference price for the country’s onion trade.
      The Fix: Build procurement and modern storage capacity in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat so the national price is not set by one belt.
    3. Sudden trade restrictions cost long term market access: Buyers who lose supply once diversify permanently, so the export channel is thinner when the surplus returns. Eg. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka shifted to Chinese, Pakistani and Egyptian onion during the Indian export restrictions.
      The Fix: Announce any trade measure with a fixed minimum notice period and a stated expiry date written into the notification.
    4. Procurement covers only a buffer, not the crop: Agency purchase is sized to stabilise consumer supply, so the price the farmer receives is still set by the open market. Eg. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) buying is confined to buffer accumulation and market release.
      The Fix: Add a deficiency price payment triggered on the mandi price falling below assessed cultivation cost, paid directly rather than through purchase.
    5. Farmers sow without a forward price signal: Acreage decisions are made months before the price is known, which is what produces the alternating glut and shortage. Eg. A remunerative rabi price pulls extra acreage into the next kharif sowing and depresses that crop’s price.
      The Fix: Publish an official pre sowing advisory each season carrying expected national acreage and an indicative price band.

    Conclusion

    Onion policy is being run as a series of corrections applied after the price has already moved. What remains unreconciled is that every correction reaches the farmer after both the sowing decision and the distress sale are complete. Storage capacity and orderly movement of stock are the only interventions that operate before a collapse rather than after it. Whether the Centre holds one trade regime steady through a full price cycle is the test of whether the approach has changed.

  • Progress review of Prime Minister Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana

    Progress review of Prime Minister Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana

    Why in News

    The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare reviewed the implementation progress of the Prime Minister Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY).

    Core facts

    1. What it is: PMDDKY is a district focused agriculture development scheme. It converges existing schemes to raise farm productivity in India’s weakest performing agricultural districts.
    2. Implementing ministry: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is the nodal ministry. Multiple line departments contribute converged schemes.
    3. Coverage: The scheme targets 100 districts. Districts are selected on three parameters. The parameters are low agricultural productivity, low cropping intensity, and low credit disbursement.
    4. Convergence design: The scheme pools 36 existing schemes across 11 departments. It layers these on a single district plan rather than creating a new fund line.
    5. Release specific review figures: The specific progress numbers, district status, and targets reported in PRID 2305501 could not be verified from PIB this run. They are not reproduced here.

    Static Context

    1. Origin: The scheme was announced in the Union Budget 2025 to 2026. The Union Cabinet approved it in July 2025.
    2. Duration: The scheme runs for 6 years from 2025 to 2026.
    3. Model: The scheme is modelled on the Aspirational Districts Programme. That programme uses ranking, convergence, and competitive monitoring to lift the weakest districts.
    4. Focus areas: The scheme covers productivity, crop diversification, sustainable agriculture, irrigation and water conservation, post harvest storage at panchayat and block level, and farm credit.
    5. Monitoring: District, State, and National level committees oversee the scheme. NITI Aayog and assigned Central Nodal Officers support monitoring.

    Prelims angle

    1. Number of districts covered: 100 districts.
    2. Selection parameters: low productivity, low cropping intensity, low credit disbursement.
    3. Number of converged schemes: 36 schemes across 11 departments.
    4. Parent design model: Aspirational Districts Programme.
    5. Nodal ministry: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

    Mains angle

    GS3, agriculture theme (major crops, cropping patterns, agricultural productivity, and scheme convergence). A question can ask how a convergence and district targeting model raises productivity in low performing agricultural districts. It can also ask how crop diversification and integrated farming raise small farmer incomes.

    “[2022, GS3, 15] What is Integrated Farming System ? How is it helpful to small and marginal farmers in India ?”

    “[2025, GS3, 10] Explain the factors influencing the decision of the farmers on the selection of high value crops in India.”

  • ‘Despite US tariffs, our fish export has increased… now exporting to the UK, Japan, China, Thailand and EU’

    ‘Despite US tariffs, our fish export has increased… now exporting to the UK, Japan, China, Thailand and EU’

    Why in the News

    India’s fish exports reached Rs 73,890 crore in 2025-26, an increase of about Rs 11,000 crore over the previous year. The United States imposed a tariff of more than 58 per cent on Indian goods in 2025, and shipments to that market fell by around 19 to 20 per cent. Growth of more than 20 per cent in the European Union and in countries with which India has signed free trade agreements covered the shortfall. The Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying set out this record alongside the production and infrastructure results claimed for the Blue Revolution, the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund. The tension is that the exports absorbing the tariff are marine products, and the production growth being cited is led by inland fisheries, which contribute only about 2 per cent of export earnings.

    How has fish production moved since 2013-14?

    1. Output has more than doubled: Total fish production rose from 95.79 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 197.75 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, a growth of 115 per cent.
    2. Inland fisheries led it: Inland production grew by 147 per cent over the same period.
    3. What paid for it: More than Rs 39,000 crore was invested through the Blue Revolution launched in 2015, the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund.
    4. The livelihood base: Three crore people work directly as fishers or fish farmers, and about six crore livelihoods depend on the wider value chain.
    5. An administrative separation: The fisheries department was carved out of the agriculture ministry in 2019 and given a ministry of its own.

    What does Bihar’s shift show about inland fisheries?

    1. A dependence reversed: Around 90 to 95 per cent of the fish sold in Bihar earlier came from Andhra Pradesh, and that share is now about 5 per cent.
    2. The production jump: Bihar’s output has grown eleven times since 2005 to approximately 10.89 lakh tonnes.
    3. From buyer to seller: Bihar now sends freshwater fish to Nepal, West Bengal and Jharkhand.

    How were export markets rebuilt after the tariff?

    1. The base being defended: Fish exports had risen from Rs 30,213 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 62,408 crore in 2024-25 before the tariff was imposed.
    2. Exporters were redirected: The ministry pushed exporters toward new destinations in coordination with the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), the statutory body under the commerce ministry that promotes marine product exports.
    3. The outreach: Round table conferences were held with ambassadors and high commissioners of 49 countries.
    4. Where the fish now goes: The new markets are the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Thailand and several European Union countries.
    5. What is actually shipped: Inland and freshwater fish make up only about 2 per cent of exports, so the earnings growth is in marine products.

    What did India change to meet importing countries’ requirements?

    1. Antibiotics were banned: European countries and the United Kingdom refuse fish produced using harmful antibiotics, and India prohibited their use in response.
    2. Origin travels with the fish: A traceability framework requires the origin of the fish to be established through a QR code.
    3. A domestic quality problem runs alongside: Farmed mangur is being confiscated in Bihar over its effect on native species and on local livelihoods, and injections used to accelerate its growth carry a health risk.

    Why is deep sea fishing being opened around Lakshadweep and the Andamans?

    1. The loss being addressed: Almost one lakh tonnes of tuna were believed to die naturally in those waters for want of fishing infrastructure.
    2. The gap in effort: Indian vessels were not fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the belt extending 200 nautical miles from the baseline within which a coastal state holds rights over living and non living resources, or on the high seas beyond it.
    3. What has been put in place: Fishing infrastructure for the islands was announced in the 2024 Budget, guidelines for the Exclusive Economic Zone and the high seas were formulated, and investor meetings were held in both island groups.
    4. The security condition: Only vessels carrying the national flag will be permitted to fish on the high seas, on the ground that the sea is a national security concern.
    5. The target species: Tuna is the intended catch, among the most expensive fish in the world and in high global demand.

    How are fishing communities being protected against climate risk?

    1. Transponders on vessels: Fishing vessels are being fitted with transponders connected to satellites.
    2. Contact and early warning: A fisher at sea for 15 to 20 days can stay in touch with family through an Android phone linked to the transponder, and alerts warn of approaching storms and direct vessels away from danger.
    3. A fuel saving by product: The same system indicates where fish are likely to be found, which cuts searching time and fuel use.
    4. The stated limit of the mandate: Rising sea temperatures and changing rainfall are treated as sitting with the environment ministry rather than with the fisheries ministry.

    Why does India’s livestock scale not convert into exports?

    1. The scale: India ranks first in the world in milk production and second in egg production.
    2. The barrier: Foot and mouth disease and brucellosis in the animal population restrict how much India can export.
    3. The response: Vaccination campaigns aimed at eradicating foot and mouth disease have brought outbreaks down from 132 in 2019 to 40.
    4. A domestic standards question: Four States have banned analogue paneer, an artificial product that is not made from milk and that carries a health risk.

    How is the stray cattle problem being addressed at source?

    1. It is a State subject: Management of stray animals sits with State governments rather than with the Centre.
    2. Sex sorted semen changes the calf ratio: Artificial insemination using sex sorted semen produces around 90 per cent female calves.
    3. Why the abandoned animals are male: Most animals left on roads are male, since tractors have replaced oxen in farm work.
    4. The incentive being created: More female calves mean more milk and more income, giving an owner a reason to rear the animal rather than abandon it.

    What is the Centre’s role in panchayat finance?

    1. The constitutional position: Under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment the panchayat is a distinct tier of government, and the laws governing its functioning are State laws.
    2. On the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996: The Act completes three decades this year and its implementation is delayed in several States. The stated central position is that States hold the power to legislate here, so the Centre does not intervene.
    3. What the Centre transfers: The Centre releases the grants recommended by the Finance Commission to States in a 90:10 ratio determined by population and geographical conditions.
    4. The release condition: States must pass the money on to panchayats within 10 days, failing which the second instalment is withheld.
    5. Performance linked grants: The Sixteenth Finance Commission has recommended that 20 per cent of the grant be performance based, which forces panchayats to develop their own revenue sources.
    6. Capacity building: Training of elected representatives, including women representatives, is run with trainers drawn from institutions such as the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
    7. Bihar’s reservation record: Bihar reserved 50 per cent of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions in 2006 and in local bodies in 2007, and women were 53 per cent of those elected in the last panchayat election.

    Conclusion

    Production was never the constraint here. Exports held up because the ministry found new buyers and met the residue and traceability conditions those buyers impose, which is a compliance achievement rather than a fishing one. The marker to watch is whether the island investor meetings convert into Indian flagged vessels actually working the Exclusive Economic Zone.

    Back2Basics

    1. Administering department: Implemented by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
    2. Launch and outlay: Launched in 2020 with an investment of Rs 20,050 crore, the largest ever committed to the fisheries sector in India.
    3. Objectives: Raise fish production and productivity, modernise the value chain from harvest to market, and double the incomes of fishers and fish farmers.
    4. Targeted beneficiaries: Fishers, fish farmers, fish workers and vendors, fisheries cooperatives and fish farmer producer organisations.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2015, GS3, 12 marks] Livestock rearing has a big potential for providing non-farm employment and income in rural areas. Discuss suggesting suitable measures to promote this sector in India.”

  • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana crop insurance record

    Why in the News

    PIB set out the coverage and claims record of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). PMFBY is the national crop insurance scheme.

    Core facts

    1. What it is: PMFBY provides crop insurance against non preventable natural risks. Cover runs from pre sowing to post harvest.
    2. Coverage record: About 56.96 crore farmer applications were insured since inception.
    3. Claims paid: About Rs 1,54,469 crore was paid in claims since inception.
    4. Farmer premium: Farmers pay 2 percent for Kharif crops, 1.5 percent for Rabi crops and 5 percent for commercial and horticultural crops. The government pays the balance premium.
    5. Design principle: The scheme follows a One Nation, One Crop, One Premium approach. It removed premium capping so full admissible claims are paid.
    6. Technology: Loss assessment uses remote sensing, drones and smartphones. Key systems are YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System based on Technology) and CROPIC (Collection of Real time Observations and Photographs of Crops).

    Static Context

    1. Launch: PMFBY was launched in 2016. It replaced earlier crop insurance schemes.
    2. Voluntary since 2020: Enrolment became voluntary for all farmers from the 2020 revamp. It was earlier compulsory for loanee farmers.
    3. Delivery platform: The National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) digitises enrolment, premium flow and claims.
    4. Implementing ministry: The scheme is run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

    Prelims angle

    1. Premium hook: Farmer premium is 2 percent Kharif, 1.5 percent Rabi, 5 percent commercial and horticultural. A uniform 2 percent for all crops is incorrect.
    2. Scope hook: The scheme covers post harvest losses from cyclones and unseasonal rain, and localised risks such as hailstorm and landslide.
    3. Tech hook: YES-TECH for yield estimation and CROPIC for photograph based crop verification.
    4. Year hook: Launched in 2016, voluntary since 2020.

    Mains angle

    GS3 (agricultural risk, crop insurance, subsidies). A question can ask how crop insurance protects small and marginal farmers against climate risk.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2016, GS3, 12.5 marks] Give the vulnerability of Indian agriculture to vagaries of nature, discuss the need for crop insurance and bring out the salient features of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). [2016] With reference to ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’, consider the following statements: 1. Under this scheme, farmers will have to pay a uniform premium of two percent for any crop they cultivate in any season of the year. 2. This scheme covers post-harvest losses arising out of cyclones and unseasonal rains. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer: (b)”

  • Per Drop More Crop expands water efficient micro irrigation

    Why in the News

    PIB detailed the reach of the Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) component of national irrigation policy. Revised guidelines widen the water management activities that states can fund.

    Core facts

    1. What it is: Per Drop More Crop promotes drip and sprinkler irrigation. The aim is higher water use efficiency at the farm.
    2. Coverage record: About 83.06 lakh hectares were brought under micro irrigation from 2015-16 to 2023-24. About 30.55 lakh hectares of that were added in the last three years.
    3. Central assistance: About Rs 18,714.69 crore was released to states since inception.
    4. Subsidy pattern: Assistance is 55 percent for small and marginal farmers and 45 percent for other farmers. Northeastern and Himalayan states get 25 percent higher unit cost support.
    5. Revised guidelines: States can now plan micro level water management works such as diggi construction and water harvesting under the scheme.
    6. Figure caveat: Some current media figures cite about 115 lakh hectares and 12.30 lakh farmers. Those could not be verified on a fetchable PIB detail page, so the PIB verified figure of 83.06 lakh hectares is used above.

    Static Context

    1. Parent scheme history: PDMC ran under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) from 2015-16 to 2021-22. Since 2022-23 it runs under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
    2. Micro Irrigation Fund: The Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) was created with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Its initial corpus was Rs 5,000 crore.
    3. Interest support: The Fund gives states a 3 percent interest subvention on loans for micro irrigation expansion.
    4. PMKSY mandate: PMKSY, launched in 2015, follows the goal of Har Khet Ko Paani and improved on farm water use.

    Prelims angle

    1. Umbrella hook: PDMC now sits under RKVY, earlier under PMKSY.
    2. Fund hook: The Micro Irrigation Fund is with NABARD, corpus Rs 5,000 crore.
    3. Concept hook: Micro irrigation cuts fertiliser and nutrient loss and can check groundwater depletion. It is not the only means of dryland irrigation.

    Mains angle

    GS3 (types of irrigation and irrigation systems). A question can ask how micro irrigation addresses India’s water stress and how coverage can be widened.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2021, GS3, 10 marks] How and to what extent would micro-irrigation help in solving India’s water crisis? [2016, GS3, 12.5 marks] What is water-use efficiency? Describe the role of micro-irrigation in increasing the water-use efficiency. [2011] With reference to micro-irrigation, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Fertilizer/nutrient loss can be reduced. 2. It is the only means of irrigation in dry land farming. 3. In some areas of farming, receding of the groundwater table can be checked. (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Answer: (c)”

  • Government to introduce fortnightly sugar allocation

    Why in the News

    The Centre has decided to replace the existing monthly sugar quota system with a fortnightly allocation system from September. A physical verification of sugar stocks at mills found that many mills held stocks well beyond their declared monthly returns, that some mills engaged in short selling by selling less sugar than their monthly allocation, and that sugar sold at the start of a month was in some cases lifted by buyers only at the month’s end. The move tightens a monitoring system the government found could be gamed under a monthly cycle.

    Why did the government find the monthly quota system inadequate?

    1. Stock under-declaration: Physical verification showed many mills were holding stocks in excess of what they had declared in their monthly returns to the government.
    2. Short selling: Some mills sold less sugar than the quantity actually allocated to them under the monthly quota, without any monthly-cycle mechanism to catch the shortfall quickly.
    3. Delayed lifting by buyers: In some cases sugar sold by a mill early in the month was dispatched or lifted by the buyer only near the end of the month, defeating the purpose of a monthly release schedule.

    What does the new fortnightly system require?

    1. Split sale mandate: Mills must sell at least 40 percent of their fortnightly allocation in the first week and the remaining balance in the second week.
    2. Faster dispatch: Mills have been directed to dispatch sold sugar within a week of sale, closing the gap that allowed delayed lifting under the monthly system.
    3. Closer monitoring: A fortnightly cycle lets the government track the demand supply position more frequently, respond faster to market changes, and release additional quota where needed.

    Challenges to the fortnightly allocation system

    1. Compliance burden on mills: A fortnightly reporting and dispatch cycle roughly doubles the administrative and logistical load mills previously carried under a monthly system. Eg. Mills must now furnish dispatch proof and stock declarations twice as often, straining smaller mills with limited administrative staff. Fix. Phase in stricter reporting first for mills previously flagged for under-declaration or short selling, rather than applying the full compliance load uniformly from day one.
    2. Enforcement capacity: The scheme depends on the government’s ability to verify declarations at the mill level frequently enough to catch violations before the next cycle begins. Eg. The August verification exercise that triggered this shift was itself a one-time physical check, not a standing monitoring mechanism. Fix. Institutionalise periodic third-party stock audits rather than relying on ad hoc verification drives.

    Conclusion

    The fortnightly allocation system is a direct administrative response to mill-level under-declaration, short selling and delayed dispatch uncovered during stock verification. Crushing for the new sugar year begins on 15 October, with production of 10 lakh tonnes expected in October and 45 lakh tonnes in November, and mills are free to sell without restriction through October.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    No direct PYQ traced in the provided files.