PM-RKVY: Rs 1200 Crore Sanctioned to 10 States at Rabi Meet

The second day of the National Agriculture Conference – Rabi Campaign 2026 was held in Delhi on 29 September 2026, chaired by Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Agriculture ministers and senior officers from many states joined the session, along with Ministers of State Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary, Agriculture Secretary Atish Chandra and ICAR Director General Dr M. L. Jat.

Money placed with the states

The minister gave financial sanction letters of more than Rs 1200 crore to the agriculture ministers of ten states under the Prime Minister Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY). His point was that the Centre does not stop at drafting policy: the money reaches states early enough for schemes to start on the ground without waiting.

The numbers he placed before the ministers

Farm sector growth, the minister said, has moved up from 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent since 2015. The yearly addition to foodgrain output has more than doubled, from roughly 40 lakh tonnes to 84 lakh tonnes. In two years alone, between 2023-24 and 2025-26, rabi foodgrain output went up by 205 lakh tonnes. He credited that rise to state agriculture departments, scientists and farmers working together.

Khet Bachao Abhiyan and a fixed calendar

A nationwide Khet Bachao Abhiyan will run from 22 October to 30 November this year. Built around Soil Health Cards, it will push balanced fertiliser use so that soil fertility and friendly insects survive, and it will carry pulses into the rice fallow land of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal after the paddy harvest. An annual calendar of interface meetings was also fixed: for kharif, district meetings on 10 May and state meetings on 17 May; for rabi, 10 September and 17 September. Monthly virtual reviews with states, a State Agriculture Team in every state and monthly district meetings under the Collector were announced to firm up cooperative federalism.

Prices, inputs and exports

Chouhan promised assured government purchase of the whole tur, urad and masoor arriving at MSP, at 100 per cent, with payment made inside 48 hours. He ordered states to prosecute sellers of fake fertiliser, spurious seed and sub-standard pesticide, and to end forced tagging altogether. Natural farming, integrated farming systems and crop diversification are to be taken up in mission mode. New free trade agreements, he added, would carry Indian grain, fruit and vegetables to world markets and turn the country into a 'food basket' for the world.