Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
Over 1.22 crore farmers trained in 3 yrs, Govt tells MP Satnam Sandhu in Parliament
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, August 5, 2025: The Union Government has imparted skill training to over 1.22 crore farmers under three Skill Development Programmes all across the country in the last three years for capacity-building on modern agro-technologies, agro-processing and agri-export promotion.
These initiatives are aligned with the evolving market demands to enhance farmers’ competitiveness and entrepreneurial capabilities across the country.
The integration of startups into these programmes has further strengthened grassroots-level innovation, real-time problem-solving and the development of a robust rural entrepreneurial ecosystem.
This information was shared by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ram Nath Thakur in response to a question raised by Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, Satnam Singh Sandhu during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Rajya Sabha MP, Satnam Singh Sandhu in a question asked in the Parliament had sought details regarding the skill development programmes run by the union government to enhance capacity of farmers in modern techniques, agro-processing or agri-exports and the number of farmers trained under such schemes during the last three years.
The MoS for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ram Nath Thakur in a written reply stated, “The Union Government has trained 1,15,76,893 farmers under Support to State Extension Programs for Extension Reforms popularly known as ATMA Scheme (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) that’s been implemented in all 740 districts of 28 states and 5 UTs in the country in the last 3 years. More than 5,96,000 farmers at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and as many as 45,565 farmers have been trained under Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) programme during the same period, taking the total number of farmers trained under these three programmes to 1.22 crores in the last 3 years.”
Responding to another question asked by MP Satnam Sandhu regarding the number of farmers trained under such schemes during the last three years and involvement of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and agri-startups in these initiatives, MoS Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ram Nath Thakur said, “While more than 99,162 farmers have been trained under the Krishi Vigyan Kendra program in Punjab in the last 3 years, as many as 2547 farmers have been skilled under STRY scheme during the same period. Farmers from Punjab have emerged as one of the major beneficiaries of the KVK programme, accounting for over 17 percent of the total farmers trained under the scheme across the country. Over 8,455 farmers have been trained in Pathankot district, 6,485 farmers in Bathinda and 6,181 farmers in Tarn Taran, making them the top three districts in Punjab with the highest number of trained farmers in the state.”The Minister further added, “The short duration skill-based training programs are organised by SAMETIs through different training partners including Krishi Vigyan Kendras. KVKs are responsible for designing the program, arranging resource persons, developing training materials and evaluation and certification. The involvement of Krishi Vigyan Kendras of Punjab in collaboration with incubators like the Punjab Agri Business Incubator (PABI) at Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana have facilitated structured skill-based training for farmers by leveraging the technical expertise of startups in areas such as crop residue management, bio-inputs, smart irrigation systems, precision farming and post-harvest value addition.”
“These schemes not only enhanced farmers’ capacity in modern agro-technologies and agro processing but also helped promote agri-exports by aligning training with market demand. Th integration of startups into these capacity-building initiatives ensures real-time problem-solving grassroots-level innovation adoption, and the development of entrepreneurial rural ecosystems,” added Thakur.
The Union Government has implemented Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) programme at national level under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE) that provides short duration skill-based training to the youth in rural areas including farmers on vocational areas in agriculture and allied sectors.
There are 55 indicative list of skilling areas available including food processing and value addition, post-harvest management and packaging of fruits and vegetables, installation and maintenance of food processing machinery, beekeeping, vermicomposting, clean milk production, modern methods of production techniques and agro-processing, stated the reply from Ministry of Agriculture.
The reply from the Ministry of Agriculture also stated that a centrally sponsored scheme ‘Support to State Extensión Programs for Extension Reforms’ popularly known as ATMA that promotes decentralized farmer-friendly extension system in the country.
Under the scheme, grants-in-aid are released to the state governments to support efforts in making available the latest agricultural technologies and good agricultural practices in different thematic areas of agriculture and allied sectors among farmers including use of modern techniques, agro-processing through farmers training. demonstrations, exposure visits, kisan mela, mobilization of farmers interest groups and setting-up of farm schools in the field of awardee farmers.
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in different states of the country with the mandate of technology assessment and demonstration for its use and capacity development.
As part of its activities, the KVKs impart training to the farmers, farm women and rural youth on different aspects of agriculture and allied sectors including crop production, horticulture, soil health, fertility management, livestock production & management, home science women empowerment, agricultural engineering, plant protection, fisheries, production of inputs at site and agro forestry for their capacity building.