The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved continuation of the PM-AASHA scheme, with an outlay of Rs 35,000 crore, to provide better prices to farmers and also control price volatility of essential commodities for consumers.

“The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the continuation of schemes of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) to provide remunerative prices to farmers and to control price volatility of essential commodities for consumers,” an official statement said. PM-AASHA is an umbrella scheme to ensure MSP (minimum support price) to farmers.

The total financial outgo will be Rs 35,000 crore during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2025-26, it added.  The government has converged the Price Support Scheme (PSS) and Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) schemes in PM-AASHA to serve the farmers and consumers more efficiently.

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed the Cabinet’s approval to continuation of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) scheme till 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 35,000 crore.  Welcoming the decision of subsidy on P&K nutrients, Chouhan said in a social media post on ‘X’, “this will ensure availability of fertilisers to farmers at affordable rates”.

“The Integrated scheme of PM-AASHA will bring in more effectiveness in the implementation which would not only help in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers,” the government said.

PM-AASHA will now have the components of Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Stabilization Fund (PSF), Price Deficit Payment Scheme (POPS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS).            Under the PSS, the procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds and copra at MSP will be 25 per cent of national production from 2024-25 season onwards. This would enable states to procure more of these crops at MSP from farmers to prevent distress sale.  “However, this ceiling will not be applicable in case of tur, urad and masur for 2024-25 season as there will be a 100 per cent procurement of tur, urad and masur during in 2024-25 season as decided earlier,” the government said.

The Centre has renewed and enhanced the existing government guarantee to Rs 45,000 crore for procurement of notified pulses, oilseeds and copra at MSP.  This will help in more procurement of pulses, oilseeds & copra whenever prices fall below MSP in the market.

The purchases will be undertaken by the Department of Agriculture from farmers at MSP including pre-registered farmers on eSamridhi portal of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and eSamyukti portal of National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF).