PM-PRANAM (PM Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth)

✦Key Features

• States that save fertilizer subsidy get 50% of savings as grants for alternative nutrition
• Grants can be used for: promoting bio-stimulants, bio-fertilizers, organic farming, Kisan Samman Nidhi type incentives
• No separate outlay — funded entirely from existing fertilizer subsidy savings
• Complements nano-urea (IFFCO) and nano-DAP adoption; Namo Drone Didi for aerial application
• Chemical fertilizer use: India uses 60 kg/ha vs global average 140 kg/ha — but overuse in key states
• Announced Feb 1, 2023 (Budget 2023-24) by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

✓Eligibility Criteria

• Implementing agencies are the State Governments and Union Territories of India.
• States must demonstrate a quantifiable reduction in the consumption of chemical fertilizers.
• Beneficiaries are the farming communities within the states that adopt alternative fertilizers.
• States are evaluated based on the average consumption of chemical fertilizers over the previous three years.

★Benefits

• Systemic outcomes include the promotion of balanced use of chemical fertilizers and bio-fertilizers.
• Financial grant equivalent to 50% of the fertilizer subsidy saved by the state is provided as an incentive.
• Funding for the creation of assets related to the adoption of organic and alternative fertilizers.
• Technological interventions at the village/block level to improve soil health and fertility.
• Awareness generation among farmers regarding the long-term benefits of reducing chemical inputs.

▶Application Process

• States must track and report their annual consumption of chemical fertilizers to the Central Government.
• The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers compares current usage against the three-year average baseline.
• States calculate the total subsidy savings generated by reducing chemical fertilizer usage.
• The Central Government validates the data and approves the release of 50% of the saved subsidy amount.
• States submit utilization plans for the grant to promote sustainable agriculture practices.

₹ Budget Allocation

1250

Funding Ratio (Centre:State): 50% of the subsidy savings are passed to states as a grant (100% Central funding derived from savings).

Historical Context

Announced in the 2023-24 Union Budget to address the environmental impact of imbalanced fertilizer use (N:P:K ratio) and the fiscal stress of global fertilizer price volatility.

Challenges

• Inconsistent availability of bio-fertilizers and organic alternatives across all districts.
• High dependency on urea due to its immediate yield-boosting properties and low price.
• Difficulty in monitoring the qualitative shift from chemical to organic inputs at the ground level.

Reforms & Recommendations

• Integration with Soil Health Card data for precision fertilization.
• Increasing the production capacity of Nano-Urea and Nano-DAP plants.

Performance Statistics

SDG Linkages

Constitutional Backing

Technology Used

Success Stories

Key Takeaways

• Incentivizes states to promote alternative fertilizers.
• 50% of the grant can be used for asset creation in rural areas.
• Focuses on 'Mother Earth' restoration through reduced chemical leaching.

Convergence Schemes

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
• GOBARdhan Scheme
• PM-KUSUM

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