Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)

PKVY promotes organic farming through clusters of farmers rather than individuals, under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture.

Clusters are the mechanism for a practical reason: organic certification is expensive and slow for one farmer alone, and a neighbour spraying conventional chemicals can compromise your plot. A contiguous group solves both problems.

Target

10,000 clusters covering 5 lakh acres over three years.

• ₹20,000 per acre over three years, covering the whole cycle from seed to harvest and on to market access.
• Certification costs are not borne by the farmer — this is the single most valuable part of the scheme, because organic certification is otherwise a real barrier.
• Support covers inputs, practice change and market access, not just the conversion.

• A group of at least 50 farmers with a combined 50 acres.
• The land should form a workable cluster — organic status is hard to maintain next to conventional spraying, so contiguity matters in practice.
• Applications are made as a group, not individually.

• An individual farmer cannot claim PKVY alone. The minimum is 50 farmers and 50 acres.
• The ₹20,000 per acre is spread over three years, not paid upfront, and it is tied to following the organic package of practices.
• Certification requires a conversion period during which your produce cannot yet be sold as certified organic, while yields may dip. Plan for that gap before converting your whole holding.

How to apply

1. Form the group first. You need at least 50 farmers with 50 acres between them, preferably contiguous. This is the step that takes the longest, so start here.
2. Approach your district agriculture office or your state's organic farming cell with the group's details and a map of the proposed cluster.
3. The cluster is registered and linked to a certification body — under PKVY the certification cost is met by the scheme, not by you.
4. Follow the organic package of practices through the conversion period. Assistance is released across the three years against this.

Ask at step 2 how the ₹20,000 per acre is phased across the three years and what triggers each release. Groups that do not know this often assume the money is lost when it is simply not yet due.

• Land records for all participating farmers
• Group formation documents and member list
• Cluster map showing the contiguous area
• Bank account details for the group and members