Agricultural Income Gains under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY): Evidence from North Eastern Karnataka, India

The Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), launched by the Government of India in 2015, aims to support small and marginal farmers through micro-irrigation facilities. The impact of PMKSY's on cropping patterns and income in the North Eastern Karnataka region was valuated. Comparative analysis shows that PMKSY beneficiaries have diversified their crops more significantly than non-beneficiaries, allocating greater area to high-value crops such as maize and groundnut during kharif, and Bengal gram and jowar during rabi, while non-beneficiaries predominantly grew traditional crops. Beneficiaries cultivated a gross cropped area of 132.44hectares and a net cropped area of 86.41hectares with a cropping intensity of 152.56 %, compared to cropping intensity of 135.72 % for non-beneficiaries. Income analysis reveals 23.11% increase in total income for beneficiaries, driven by a 28.87% rise in crop production income and 17.77% increase in income from other occupations. However, wage income for beneficiaries declined by 37.71 per cent reflecting reduced reliance on manual labour. The DID(Difference in difference) analysis reveals that the beneficiary farmers realised higher farm income per hectare compared to control farmers (₹73809/ha). These findings underscore the effectiveness of PMKSY in enhancing cropping efficiency and farmer income, highlighting its potential for future agricultural policy interventions.