PM-PRANAM Yojana

PM-PRANAM Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana) is an initiative by the Government of India. The PM PRANAM Yojana is part of India’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce the environmental footprint of farming. The scheme’s primary objective is to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and promote alternative or organic nutrients.

In this article, we will read about the PM-PRANAM Yojana, its objectives, needs, features, and challenges.

What is the PM-PRANAM Yojana?

The PM- PRANAM Yojana stands for PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management is a scheme introduced by the Union government. Its major objective is to reduce the subsidy burden on chemical fertilizers. It is crucial to provide crops with sufficient nutrients so that they can nourish properly to increase productivity in the agricultural sector. But as time passes, there is an overuse of fertilizers that become the cause of soil erosion, increased salinity, and reduced productivity of soil because of farmer’s unawareness. This scheme will help in resisting the overuse of harmful fertilizers and replacing them with organic farming like bio-fertilizers, zymes, SSP, PROM, etc. Indian government has taken several initiatives to reduce the subsidy burden as well as to make fertilizers available to the farmers at an affordable price which will increase the crop productivity.

Objectives of PM-PRANAM Yojana

The PM-PRANAM Yojana has been launched due to the following reasons:

• The main motive of this yojana is to reduce the subsidy burden on chemical fertilizers.
• An authority does not have enough budget for resources to sustain such a subsidy burden.
• It was predicted that the pressure of chemical fertilizer subsidy had reached Rs. 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23.
• This scheme promotes the balanced use of fertilizers for proper crop yielding and soil fertility.

Need for PM-PRANAM Yojana

PM-PRANAM Yojana was needed due to the following reasons:

• There was a subsidy burden on the government.
• Farmers buy fertilizers at very high retail prices or MRP below their normal supply as well as demand-based market rates.
• The maximum retail price of urea fertilizers is fixed by the companies. However, the center pays a flat per-tonne subsidy on these nutrients to make sure of reasonable prices.

Features of PM-PRANAM Yojana

There are some features of PM-PRANAM Yojana which are as follows:

• The PM- Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management scheme will have no separate budget and will financed through the savings of existing fertilizer subsidies under the yojana run by the fertilizers department.
• To motivate the citizens to create a suitable nature by minimizing the use of fertilizers.
• As a grant to the state, about 50% of the subsidy savings will passed to it.
• The calculation of decreasing use of chemical fertilizers on an annual base will be compared to the average usage of urea during the last 3 years.

Challenges of PM-PRANAM Yojana

Here are some challenges of PM-PRANAM Yojana:

• Convincing farmers to switch from chemical to organic fertilizers can be challenging, especially if they are concerned about potential reductions in crop yields.
• Ensuring the availability and affordability of alternative nutrients is crucial for the scheme’s success.

Summary – PM-PRANAM Yojana

The PM-PRANAM Yojana is a government plan in India that encourages farmers to use alternative and organic nutrients instead of too many chemical fertilizers. It aims to reduce the subsidy burden on chemical fertilizers, promote balanced fertilizer use, and save money. The scheme supports the use of bio-fertilizers and other organic options to protect soil fertility and improve crop production. It was introduced to address concerns about the overuse of harmful fertilizers, ensuring a healthier environment and sustainable agriculture.

FAQs on PM-PRANAM Yojana

1. What is PM-PRANAM Yojana?

PM-PRANAM Yojana is one of the iniciatives taken by the indian government for promoting awareness against using less chemical fertilizers in farming sector.

2. What is the key aim of PM-PRANAM Yojana?

The key aim of PM-PRANAM Yojana is to encourage farmers to use bio fertilizers in place of chemicals in order to save soil fertility and yield better crop production.

3. Who launched PM-PRANAM Yojana?

The minister of Union Finance “Nirmala Sitharaman” in Budget 2023, had announced the launch of PM-PRANAM Yojana. This launch of scheme has proven as an best step in the agriculture sector.

4. When was PM-PRANAM Yojana first announced?

PM-PRANAM Yojana was announced for the first time in the 2023-24 budget by the Union government as an initiative towards the better crop production and by saving soil fertility.

5. What is the budget of PM-PRANAM Yojana 2023?

The total budget of PM-PRANAM Yojana is rupees 2.25 lakh crore. It is almost 40% higher than previous year’s figure of Rs. 1.62 lakh crore.