Jammu, Sep 29 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Kishtwar district has been selected as the aspirational agricultural district under the Prime Minister’s Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) programme, Union MoS (PMO), Dr. Jitendra Singh said on Monday.

Kishtwar is an Assembly segment of J&K’s Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented in the Lok Sabha by Dr. Jitendra Singh.

The minister said on X on Monday, “As a follow up to PM @narendramodi’s thoughtful advice to develop 100 districts across the country as #AspirationalAgriculturalDistricts under PM Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (#PMDDKY)… in #JammuAndKashmir, district Kishtwar has been selected to be designated as ‘Aspirational Agricultural District’.

“Thanks, Minister of Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) ji for facilitating this.

“I am sure, this will herald agricultural boost and encourage Agri-Entrepreneurs/#StartUps in this remote far-flung area, which was denied it’s due share of attention for several decades by successive governments in the past.

“Close on the heels of the widely-acclaimed ‘Purple Revolution’ from #Bhaderwah, this initiative holds the promise of being another major farming launch from the erstwhile #Doda district region.”

On July 16, the Union Cabinet approved the PMDDKY — a landmark initiative for transforming India’s agricultural landscape.

First announced in the Union Budget 2025–26, the scheme is designed to catalyse growth in 100 agri-districts through saturation-based convergence of 36 Central schemes across 11 Ministries, with an annual outlay of Rs 24,000 crore for a period of six years starting FY 2025–26.

The convergence will also include state schemes and local partnerships with the private sector. Rather than introducing new schemes, PMDDKY ensures coordinated delivery of existing programmes to the last-mile farmer, avoiding duplication and enhancing impact.

The scheme draws on insights from the successful Aspirational District Programme and is projected to benefit 1.7 crore farmers directly.

Aspirational Districts Programme aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most underdeveloped districts across the country.

The PMDDKY aims to serve as a multi-dimensional rural development intervention. Its five core objectives are: Enhancing agricultural productivity, encouraging crop diversification and sustainable agricultural practices, augmenting post-harvest storage capacity at panchayat and block levels, improving irrigation infrastructure for reliable water access and enabling greater access to short-term and long-term agricultural credit for farmers.

These objectives aim not only to improve farm incomes but also to ensure climate-resilient and market-oriented farming systems.

–IANS

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