Government schemes for farmers

Agriculture (B.Sc Agriculture) · Extension and economics · free study notes for exams, placements and interviews

In short

Government schemes for farmers are the centrally and state sponsored programmes through which India delivers income support, credit, insurance, irrigation, input subsidy, market reform and technology transfer to roughly 11 crore farm households. A B.Sc Agriculture graduate needs them because almost every field job — Agriculture Officer, bank Agriculture Field Officer, KVK subject matter specialist, FPO manager, agri-input or agri-fintech field role — is largely about enrolling farmers in these schemes and verifying eligibility. They are examined directly in university Extension and Agricultural Economics papers, and dominate the general-awareness and technical rounds of ICAR JRF/SRF, IBPS AFO, NABARD Grade A, state PSC Agriculture Officer and ASRB NET. Scheme names, outlays and rules change at almost every Union Budget, so learn the design logic (who pays, who is eligible, how money moves) rather than only the current numbers. Figures below are as of the 2025-26 position; where a number is revised annually or was restructured, that is flagged.

Explained

How schemes are classified and funded

Central Sector Schemes (CS): 100% Union funded and Union implemented — PM-KISAN, interest subvention on crop loans, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, PM-KUSUM (central share), MSP procurement operations.
Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS): shared Centre–State, normally 60:40 for general states, 90:10 for the 8 North-Eastern and 3 Himalayan states, and 100% Centre for Union Territories without legislature — RKVY, NMSA, PMKSY, National Food Security Mission, PMFBY (premium subsidy).
State schemes: fully state funded — Odisha KALIA, Telangana Rythu Bharosa (successor to Rythu Bandhu), Karnataka Raitha Siri, Maharashtra Namo Shetkari, West Bengal Krishak Bandhu, Tamil Nadu Uzhavan app services.
Umbrella restructuring (2025): from 2025-26 most crop-development and extension schemes were consolidated into two umbrella heads — PM Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) for infrastructure/capital and state-flexible work, and Krishonnati Yojana (KY) for production, extension and mission activity. The PM Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana, announced in Budget 2025-26 and approved by Cabinet in 2025, converges existing schemes in 100 low-productivity districts from 2025-26 onwards; district-level guidelines are still rolling out, so treat operational detail as provisional.
Delivery backbone: DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) into Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts, PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi portal, AgriStack (Farmer Registry, Crop Sown Registry, Geo-referenced village maps) and Digital Crop Survey, which is progressively replacing patwari eye-estimation for both PM-KISAN and insurance yield data.

Income support, credit and insurance

PM-KISAN (2019, Central Sector): ₹6,000 per year to each landholding farmer family in three equal four-monthly instalments of ₹2,000, by DBT. Eligibility rests on land records in the cultivator's name; tenants and landless labourers are excluded — the single most asked criticism. Exclusions also cover income-tax payers, institutional landholders, serving/retired government employees above Group D, professionals and pensioners drawing ₹10,000+ per month. e-KYC and land-seeding are mandatory.
Kisan Credit Card (KCC, 1998, NABARD design): revolving short-term crop loan with a 5-year validity and 10% annual step-up for cost escalation; scale of finance is fixed crop-wise and district-wise by the District Level Technical Committee (DLTC). Covers crop production, post-harvest expenses, consumption needs, farm asset maintenance, and has been extended to animal husbandry and fisheries. Loans up to ₹2 lakh are collateral-free (limit raised from ₹1.6 lakh, effective 1 January 2025). Budget 2025-26 also announced raising the interest-subvention ceiling for KCC loans from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh — check the operative MISS notification.
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS): short-term crop loans up to ₹3 lakh at 7% interest (the Centre pays lending institutions a 1.5% interest subvention to hold the rate there — restored at 1.5% from 2022-23, earlier 2%), with a further 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive for repayment on or before the due date — so a punctual farmer pays 4%. The concessional limit for KCC-AH&F is lower (commonly ₹2 lakh of the ₹3 lakh ceiling). Rates are notified yearly; verify before quoting in an interview.
PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, 2016; revamped 2020 and continued to 2025-26): area-approach yield insurance. Farmer premium is capped at 2% of sum insured for Kharif food and oilseed crops, 1.5% for Rabi food and oilseed crops and 5% for annual commercial and horticultural crops; the balance of the actuarial premium is shared by Centre and State. Voluntary for all farmers since Kharif 2020 (earlier compulsory for loanee farmers).
PMFBY risk cover: prevented/failed sowing, standing-crop loss (widespread calamity), mid-season adversity (on-account payment), post-harvest losses for up to 14 days for crops cut and spread to dry, and localised calamity (hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloudburst, natural fire) assessed individually.
RWBCIS (Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme): pays on deviation of a weather index (rainfall, temperature, humidity) from a notified trigger at the reference weather station — no yield assessment, hence faster but with basis risk.
Technology in PMFBY: YES-TECH (yield estimation using remote sensing, with a target of 30% weight to technology-based yield), WINDS (block-level weather stations), CCE-Agri app for crop cutting experiments, and the AIDE/Sarathi door-to-door enrolment app.
Pension and risk: PM Kisan Maandhan Yojana (PM-KMY) — voluntary contributory pension for small and marginal farmers aged 18-40, with matching Government contribution and ₹3,000 per month pension after 60.

Price policy, procurement and marketing

MSP (Minimum Support Price): CACP (Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices) recommends prices for 23 crops — 7 cereals, 5 pulses, 7 oilseeds and 4 commercial crops (copra, cotton, raw jute and sugarcane); the Union Government announces an MSP for 22 of them, while sugarcane gets an FRP under the Sugarcane (Control) Order.
CACP cost concepts: A2 = paid-out cost; A2+FL = paid-out cost plus imputed family labour; C2 = comprehensive cost, adding imputed rent on owned land and interest on owned fixed capital. Since 2018-19 MSP has been fixed at at least 1.5 × A2+FL; the Swaminathan Commission's recommendation of 50% over C2 has not been adopted — a classic exam contrast.
Procurement agencies: FCI for wheat and paddy under the central pool; NAFED and NCCF for pulses and oilseeds under PSS (Price Support Scheme); Price Deficiency Payment and private procurement pilots under PM-AASHA, which also covers the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for perishables outside MSP.
e-NAM (National Agriculture Market, 2016): pan-India electronic trading portal linking over 1,400 mandis; supports assaying-based lot bidding, inter-mandi and inter-state trade and online payment.
Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) and the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) — ₹1 lakh crore financing facility with 3% interest subvention on loans up to ₹2 crore and credit guarantee, for post-harvest assets: warehouses, pack-houses, cold chains, primary processing.
10,000 FPO scheme (2020): Farmer Producer Organisations promoted through Cluster Based Business Organisations (CBBOs), with equity grant and a credit guarantee facility; each FPO registered under the Companies Act or the state Cooperative Act, minimum 300 members in plains and 100 in hilly/NE areas.
Operation Greens / TOP: transport and storage subsidy for tomato, onion, potato and other perishables; Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) funds area expansion, protected cultivation and post-harvest management.

Natural resources, inputs and sustainability

PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana) — "Har Khet Ko Pani", with components: Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) for major/medium projects, Har Khet Ko Pani for minor irrigation and water-body repair, Watershed Development (WDC-PMKSY 2.0), and Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) for micro-irrigation. PDMC subsidy is typically 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for others on drip/sprinkler system cost, topped up by many states.
Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) with NABARD provides concessional loans to states to raise that top-up.
Soil Health Card (2015): a card per holding every 2 years reporting 12 parameters — pH, EC, organic carbon, available N, P, K, S, and micronutrients Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B — with crop-wise fertiliser recommendations. Now implemented under the Soil Health and Fertility component with village-level Soil Health Labs and model fertiliser-demonstration villages.
Fertiliser subsidy: urea sells at a statutory MRP with the balance paid as subsidy; P&K fertilisers are subsidised under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme with rates fixed per kg of N, P, K and S each season, paid to companies on sale through PoS machines under DBT in fertilisers. One Nation One Fertiliser (Bharat brand) standardised bag branding from 2022.
NMSA (National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture) and its sub-schemes: Rainfed Area Development, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) for organic clusters with PGS-India certification, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for NER, and the National Mission on Natural Farming (approved as a standalone Centrally Sponsored Scheme in November 2024; earlier promoted as BPKP under PKVY) which promotes Bharatiya Prakritik Krishi Paddhati, bio-input resource centres and desi-cow-based inputs.
National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP, 2021) and NMEO-Oilseeds (2024-25 to 2030-31) for import substitution in edible oil; Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses announced in Budget 2025-26 focusing on tur, urad and masur with assured NAFED/NCCF procurement.
PM-KUSUM: Component A (decentralised grid-connected solar plants on barren land), Component B (stand-alone solar pumps) and Component C (solarisation of existing grid-connected pumps); central and state subsidy together typically covers about 60% of cost with 30% bank loan, and 90%+ support in NE and hill states.
Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) funds individual machinery subsidy (commonly 40-50%, higher for SC/ST, women and small/marginal farmers) and Custom Hiring Centres / Farm Machinery Banks; the Crop Residue Management scheme funds Happy Seeders and balers in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi-NCR.
National Beekeeping and Honey Mission, National Bamboo Mission, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, National Livestock Mission, PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund cover allied enterprises that an agriculture graduate is routinely asked about.

Extension, knowledge and seed/credit institutions

ATMA (Agricultural Technology Management Agency): the district-level, registered-society mechanism for decentralised, bottom-up extension under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE) — Strategic Research and Extension Plan (SREP), Block Technology Team, Farmer Advisory Committee, farmer-friend (one per two villages), farm schools and exposure visits.
KVK (Krishi Vigyan Kendra): ICAR-funded farm science centre, one or more per district, mandated for on-farm testing, frontline demonstrations, training and multi-media advisory — the usual first employer of a B.Sc Agriculture graduate.
Digital advisory: Kisan Call Centre (1800-180-1551), mKisan SMS portal, Kisan Suvidha, Agmarknet price data, Kisan Sarathi, and the Digital Agriculture Mission (2024) that funds AgriStack, the Krishi Decision Support System and soil-profile mapping.
Seed and quality control: Seed Village Programme and seed subsidy under the National Food Security Mission; certification by State Seed Certification Agencies under the Seeds Act, 1966 and Seeds (Control) Order, 1983; variety protection under the PPV&FR Act, 2001, which also carries Farmers' Rights (to save, use, sow, exchange and sell farm-saved seed of a protected variety, except as branded seed).
Credit institutions: NABARD (refinance, RIDF, Micro Irrigation Fund, watershed and tribal development funds, FPO promotion), cooperative banks and PACS (being computerised under a central project), RRBs, and the Ground Level Credit target announced each Budget.
Insurance and risk institutions: AIC of India and empanelled private insurers; NDRF/SDRF relief under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 is relief, not insurance, and is paid at SDRF norms per hectare — not a substitute for PMFBY.
Key legal backdrop: the three farm laws of 2020 were repealed by the Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021; the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and state APMC Acts remain operative, and the Centre has circulated a draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (2024) for state adoption. Agricultural income remains exempt under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (which replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026), with the usual partial-integration treatment for farm plus non-farm income.

Advantages, limitations and how schemes are evaluated

Advantages: DBT removes leakage and middlemen; income support is crop-neutral and does not distort cropping choice; insurance at 2% premium is far cheaper than actuarial cost; KCC converts informal moneylender credit at 24-60% into institutional credit at 4-7%.
Limitations: land-record dependence excludes tenants, sharecroppers, women cultivators without title and most of the landless; MSP procurement is concentrated in wheat and paddy and in a few states, encouraging water-intensive cropping; insurance claim delays arise from delayed state premium subsidy release and disputed CCE yields; small, fragmented holdings (average operational holding about 1.08 ha, over 86% small and marginal per the Agriculture Census) make per-farmer subsidy amounts small; awareness and digital literacy gaps mean the better-off capture subsidy first ("iron law of extension"/ elite capture).
Evaluation concepts examined: coverage ratio (beneficiaries ÷ eligible), leakage/exclusion error vs inclusion error, cost-benefit ratio, subsidy incidence (who finally gains — farmer, input firm, or consumer), input vs output subsidy, AMS/Green Box–Amber Box classification under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, and de minimis limits (10% of value of production for developing countries) which is why India defends its MSP and input subsidies at the WTO.

Key points

PM-KISAN - ₹6,000/year in three ₹2,000 DBT instalments to landholding farmer families; tenants excluded.
PMFBY farmer premium - 2% Kharif, 1.5% Rabi, 5% commercial/horticultural crops of the sum insured; rest shared by Centre and State.
PMFBY is area-approach - the insurance unit is a village/village panchayat for major crops; indemnity is against threshold yield.
Threshold yield - average yield of best 5 of last 7 years × indemnity level (70%, 80% or 90%).
RWBCIS - index insurance on weather parameters; fast payout but carries basis risk.
KCC - 5-year revolving limit, 10% annual step-up, collateral-free up to ₹2 lakh since 1 January 2025.
Interest subvention - 7% on crop loans up to ₹3 lakh, 4% effective with the 3% prompt repayment incentive.
MSP - CACP covers 23 crops; 22 get an MSP and sugarcane gets an FRP.
Cost concepts - A2 (paid-out), A2+FL (plus family labour), C2 (comprehensive); MSP is ≥1.5 × A2+FL.
PM-AASHA - umbrella of PSS, Price Deficiency Payment, Market Intervention Scheme and private procurement pilots.
Soil Health Card - 12 parameters, issued every 2 years, with crop-wise fertiliser advice.
Per Drop More Crop - micro-irrigation subsidy 55% small/marginal, 45% others, under PMKSY.
PM-KUSUM - Components A (grid solar plants), B (standalone solar pumps), C (pump solarisation).
NBS - Nutrient Based Subsidy on P&K fertilisers paid per kg of nutrient via PoS DBT; urea is price-controlled separately.
AIF - ₹1 lakh crore post-harvest infrastructure facility with 3% interest subvention up to ₹2 crore.
ATMA - district society for bottom-up extension; KVK is ICAR's district farm science centre.
CSS sharing - 60:40 general states, 90:10 NE and Himalayan states, 100% for UTs without legislature.
Umbrella restructuring 2025-26 - schemes merged under PM-RKVY and Krishonnati Yojana; PM Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana targets 100 low-productivity districts.

Formulas and examples

Threshold Yield (TY) = Average yield of best 5 of last 7 years × Indemnity Level
Sum Insured (SI) = Scale of Finance per hectare × Area insured (hectare)
Farmer's premium = SI × capped rate (0.02 Kharif, 0.015 Rabi, 0.05 commercial/horticultural)
Government premium subsidy = (Actuarial premium rate − capped rate) × SI, shared Centre : State
Claim = ((TY − Actual Yield) / TY) × Sum Insured [per hectare, paid only if Actual Yield < TY]
Effective interest on crop loan = 7% (lending rate held down by the 1.5% subvention paid to the bank) − 3% prompt repayment incentive = 4%
MSP floor = 1.5 × (A2 + FL), where A2 = paid-out cost (₹/quintal) and FL = imputed family labour
Benefit-Cost Ratio = Gross return (₹/ha) ÷ Total cost (₹/ha); Net return = Gross return − Total cost

Example 1 — PMFBY premium and claim for paddy. Scale of finance for paddy = ₹60,000/ha; area insured = 1.5 ha; actuarial premium rate = 11%; indemnity level 80%; past 7 years' yields (q/ha) = 48, 52, 40, 55, 50, 38, 46.

Best 5 of 7 (drop 38 and 40): 48, 52, 55, 50, 46 → sum = 251 → average = 50.2 q/ha.
TY = 50.2 × 0.80 = 40.16 q/ha.
Sum insured = 60,000 × 1.5 = ₹90,000.
Farmer's premium (Kharif, 2%) = 0.02 × 90,000 = ₹1,800.
Total actuarial premium = 0.11 × 90,000 = ₹9,900 → Government subsidy = 9,900 − 1,800 = ₹8,100, i.e. ₹4,050 each for Centre and State at 50:50.
If actual yield notified = 30 q/ha: shortfall = 40.16 − 30 = 10.16 q/ha → claim = (10.16 / 40.16) × 90,000 = ₹22,768 (approx.).
Net gain to the farmer = 22,768 − 1,800 = ₹20,968.

Example 2 — KCC limit and interest cost. A farmer grows paddy on 2 ha (scale of finance ₹60,000/ha) and wheat on 2 ha (₹45,000/ha) in the first year.

Crop component = (2 × 60,000) + (2 × 45,000) = 1,20,000 + 90,000 = ₹2,10,000.
Add 10% for post-harvest and household needs + 20% for farm asset maintenance (illustrative KCC norms) = 2,10,000 × 1.30 = ₹2,73,000 → first-year limit ≈ ₹2.73 lakh.
5-year limit with 10% step-up each year: Year 5 = 2,73,000 × 1.1⁴ = 2,73,000 × 1.4641 ≈ ₹3,99,700.
Interest on ₹2,73,000 for one year: at 7% = ₹19,110; after the 3% prompt repayment incentive (4% effective) = ₹10,920. Saving = ₹8,190. (Only ₹3 lakh qualifies for subvention; here the whole limit is within it.)

Example 3 — MSP, cost concepts and profitability. For a wheat crop, A2 = ₹1,100/q, imputed family labour FL = ₹350/q, and C2 = ₹1,900/q. Yield = 45 q/ha.

A2+FL = 1,100 + 350 = ₹1,450/q → MSP at 1.5 × (A2+FL) = ₹2,175/q.
Margin over A2+FL = 2,175 − 1,450 = ₹725/q → 50% (by construction).
Margin over C2 = 2,175 − 1,900 = ₹275/q, only 14.5% over comprehensive cost — this is why the Swaminathan "C2 + 50%" demand (which would need ₹2,850/q) differs from current policy.
Gross return = 45 × 2,175 = ₹97,875/ha; total cost at C2 = 45 × 1,900 = ₹85,500 → net return = ₹12,375/ha; B:C ratio = 97,875 / 85,500 = 1.14.

Example 4 — Per Drop More Crop subsidy for drip. Drip system for 1 ha of banana costs ₹1,10,000; farmer is small (holding 1.2 ha); state adds a 25% top-up on system cost.

Central/CSS assistance at 55% = 0.55 × 1,10,000 = ₹60,500.
State top-up at 25% = ₹27,500 → total assistance = ₹88,000 (80% of cost).
Farmer's own contribution = 1,10,000 − 88,000 = ₹22,000.
If water saving is 40% and yield rises 20% on a base of 50 t/ha at ₹12,000/t: extra revenue = 0.20 × 50 × 12,000 = ₹1,20,000/year → simple payback on the farmer's share ≈ 0.18 year, i.e. within the first crop (top-up rates are state-notified and vary).

Scheme	Type	Core benefit	Key eligibility/condition
PM-KISAN	Central Sector	₹6,000/yr DBT	Land in cultivator's name; e-KYC; exclusion list
PMFBY	Centrally Sponsored	Yield-loss insurance	Voluntary; premium 2%/1.5%/5% of sum insured
RWBCIS	Centrally Sponsored	Weather-index payout	Notified crop, reference weather station
KCC + MISS	Central Sector	Credit at 4-7%	Cultivator incl. tenant (where recorded), AH&F eligible
MSP/PM-AASHA	Central Sector	Assured price	Notified crop, FAQ quality, registration at procurement centre
PMKSY-PDMC	Centrally Sponsored	45-55% drip/sprinkler subsidy	Holding limit, one-time per area, approved vendor
PM-KUSUM	Central Sector	Solar pump/plant subsidy	Un-electrified or grid-connected pump owner
AIF	Central Sector	3% interest subvention	Post-harvest asset, loan up to ₹2 crore
10,000 FPO	Central Sector	Equity grant + credit guarantee	300 members (plains) / 100 (hill, NE)

Where it is used

State Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture: Agriculture Officer / Agriculture Extension Officer work is scheme targeting, beneficiary verification, subsidy sanction on state DBT portals and field inspection of subsidised assets.
Banking and insurance: IBPS Agriculture Field Officer and NABARD roles appraise KCC and term loans against scale of finance, handle interest subvention claims, and finance AIF/FPO/AHIDF projects; AIC and private insurers employ graduates for CCE supervision, loss assessment and AIDE enrolment.
ICAR–KVK and ATMA system: frontline demonstrations, soil health card campaigns, natural farming clusters, and training that is formally counted as scheme output.
FPOs, agri-startups and agri-fintech: CBBO field staff, DeHaat/Ninjacart/Samunnati/Jai Kisan style firms whose business model rests on KCC data, e-NAM prices, AIF-funded warehouses and AgriStack farmer IDs.
Input industry: fertiliser companies (IFFCO, Coromandel, Chambal) run NBS–PoS DBT compliance; micro-irrigation firms (Jain Irrigation, Netafim) and farm machinery firms (Mahindra, VST, Sonalika) sell largely against PDMC and SMAM subsidy approvals.
Policy, research and media: CACP and NITI Aayog cost and subsidy analysis, NABARD district credit plans, agri-journalism and rural development consulting.

Interview questions

Q: Who is excluded from PM-KISAN? A: Institutional landholders, income-tax payers, serving or retired government employees above Group D, professionals like doctors and lawyers, pensioners drawing ₹10,000 or more a month — and, by design, tenants and landless labourers because the benefit is tied to land records.
Q: How is the threshold yield under PMFBY calculated? A: Average yield of the best five of the last seven years for the notified insurance unit, multiplied by the indemnity level of 70%, 80% or 90%.
Q: A farmer's village average yield fell but his own field did fine — will he get a PMFBY claim? A: Yes, because widespread-loss claims use the area approach: payment follows the insurance unit's yield, not the individual field. Only localised calamity and post-harvest loss are assessed field-wise.
Q: Why is the effective interest on a crop loan 4%? A: Banks lend at 7%, compensated by a 1.5% interest subvention from the Centre, and a punctual borrower gets a further 3% prompt repayment incentive, leaving 4%.
Q: Difference between MSP and FRP? A: MSP is an advisory floor price announced for 22 crops on CACP's recommendation at which government agencies may procure; FRP for sugarcane is statutorily payable by the mill to the farmer under the Sugarcane Control Order.
Q: What is the difference between A2+FL and C2? A: A2+FL is paid-out cost plus imputed family labour; C2 adds imputed rent on owned land and interest on owned fixed capital, so C2 is always higher. MSP is fixed at 1.5 × A2+FL, not 1.5 × C2.
Q: Why do many farmers prefer RWBCIS over PMFBY? A: Weather-index payouts are triggered automatically from reference weather station data, so settlement is faster and needs no crop cutting experiment — the trade-off is basis risk when station data does not match field loss.
Q: What is the funding pattern of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme? A: Usually 60:40 Centre:State, 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states, and 100% Central for Union Territories without a legislature.
Q: How does ATMA differ from the earlier T&V system? A: ATMA is a decentralised, district-level society with farmer participation, bottom-up planning through an SREP and multi-agency convergence, whereas Training and Visit was a top-down, single-line extension hierarchy.
Q: What does the Soil Health Card report? A: Twelve parameters — pH, EC, organic carbon, available N, P, K, S and the micronutrients Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B — with crop-wise fertiliser and amendment recommendations, revised on a two-year cycle.
Q: Is relief under SDRF the same as crop insurance? A: No. SDRF/NDRF relief is ex-gratia disaster assistance at fixed per-hectare norms under the Disaster Management Act, 2005; PMFBY is a contractual, premium-based indemnity against measured yield shortfall.
Q: Why is MSP criticised for groundwater depletion? A: Effective procurement is concentrated in paddy and wheat and in a few states, so assured prices push farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western UP towards water-intensive paddy despite falling water tables.
Q: What changed for KCC in January 2025? A: The collateral-free loan limit was raised from ₹1.6 lakh to ₹2 lakh per borrower.

Common mistakes

Writing that the PMFBY farmer premium is 2% for all crops — it is 1.5% for Rabi food/oilseed crops and 5% for annual commercial and horticultural crops.
Taking the average of all seven years instead of the best five of seven for threshold yield, or forgetting to multiply by the indemnity level.
Claiming MSP is 1.5 × C2 or crediting the Swaminathan formula to current policy; it is 1.5 × (A2+FL).
Saying MSP covers all crops, or counting sugarcane among the 22 MSP crops instead of noting its FRP (CACP's 23 includes it).
Confusing interest subvention (1.5% to the bank) with the prompt repayment incentive (3% to the farmer) and quoting 7% as the final cost to a punctual borrower.
Treating PM-KISAN as reaching all farmers, including tenants and landless labourers.
Quoting outlays, instalment dates or subsidy percentages from old notes — scheme names were restructured under PM-RKVY and Krishonnati Yojana from 2025-26, and rates are revised annually; state what varies rather than quoting a stale number.
Mixing up PMFBY (yield, area approach) with RWBCIS (weather index) and NDRF relief (disaster ex-gratia) in the same answer.