Source: PIB Backgrounder, June 5, 2026
The agriculture backgrounder tallies a decade of farm policy around three moves: digitise the farmer’s identity, modernise the toolkit, and underwrite income.
The Digital Identity Layer
- 7.63 crore+ Farmer IDs created (February 2026) under AgriStack, within the Digital Agriculture Mission (approved September 2024, Rs 2,817 crore)
- ~23.5 crore crop plots digitised; the Farmer Registry, geo-referenced village maps and Crop Sown Registry together let subsidies, credit and insurance find the actual cultivator
- National Pest Surveillance System (August 2024): covers 66 crops and 432+ pest species with real-time advisories
The Toolkit and the Transfer
- Namo Drone Didi: Rs 1,261 crore (2023-24 to 2025-26), placing agri-drones with 15,000 women SHGs
- PM-KISAN: Rs 6,000/year per eligible farmer family in three DBT instalments (running since December 2018)
The Output Decade
| Indicator | 2013-14 | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| Foodgrain production | 265.05 million tonnes | 357.73 million tonnes (2024-25) |
| Agriculture department budget | Rs 27,663 crore | Rs 1,40,528.78 crore (2026-27), a five-fold rise |
Growth drivers: rice, wheat, maize, coarse cereals and millets.
Mains Angle
The unresolved question: record output and a five-fold budget have not closed the farm-income gap; the spend is transfer-heavy (PM-KISAN, subsidies) while investment in irrigation efficiency, post-harvest infrastructure and market reform trails. Way forward: use Farmer IDs to consolidate overlapping subsidies into a single income-support ledger, route NPSS advisories into insurance triggers, and judge the decade ahead on farmer income data, not output tonnage.
📌 Facts Corner — Knowledgepedia
Digital agriculture:
- 7.63 crore+ Farmer IDs (Feb 2026); 23.5 crore plots digitised; Digital Agriculture Mission Rs 2,817 crore (Sept 2024)
- NPSS (Aug 2024): 66 crops, 432+ pest species; Namo Drone Didi Rs 1,261 crore, 15,000 women SHGs
Income and output:
- PM-KISAN: Rs 6,000/year in 3 instalments (since Dec 2018)
- Foodgrains: 265.05 MT (2013-14) to 357.73 MT (2024-25)
- Agri budget: Rs 27,663 crore to Rs 1,40,528.78 crore (2026-27)
Sources: PIB, Ministry of Agriculture
