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Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)- (UPSC/RAS)

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  • "reach the unreached"  meaning the scheme is deliberately targeted at those who normally get left out of mechanization- small and marginal farmers, women, SC/ST farmers, FPOs, SHGs, and rural entrepreneurs
  • Nodal Ministry - Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) (the parent scheme) -

  1. Launched in 2007, gives states flexibility and autonomy to design their own agri-projects rather than a one-size-fits-all central template
  2. Restructured in 2017-18 as RKVY-RAFTAR (Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation), with sharper focus on pre- and post-harvest infrastructure

Key Strategic Pillars & Focus Areas -

  • The program structure scales farm power availability using seven operational focal points-
  1. Expand Mechanization Access- Spreading modern technological tools to small landholding zones.
  2. Provide Financial Support- Offering direct subsidy incentives to offset machine purchase costs.
  3. Promote Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs)- Enabling affordable rental systems to eliminate high initial capital requirements.
  4. Establish Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs)- Creating local infrastructure banks managed by community collectives.
  5. Develop Hi-Tech Equipment Hubs- Delivering high-capacity, advanced machines optimized for crop-specific regional operations.
  6. Strengthen Awareness & Capacity Building- Running on-field training, technology testing, and demonstration models.
  7. Ensure Testing & Certification- Standardizing performance testing to maintain equipment quality and safety compliance.

Financial Architecture & Cost-Sharing Models-

A. Subsidy Models for Individual Machine Procurement

  • Disbursed directly through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, individual machinery ownership subsidies are structured as follows-
  1. General Category Beneficiaries- Receives 40% of total machine cost.
  2. Vulnerable & Focus Categories- General guidelines provide 50% subsidy support to SC/ST, small/marginal, women farmers, and beneficiaries in the North-Eastern region.

B. Group & Institutional Project Financing

  1. Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs)- Receives 40% financial assistance for projects valued up to ₹250 lakh.
  2. Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs)- SHGs, FPOs, and local institutions receive 80% to 90% financial support for setting up banks on projects valued up to ₹30 lakh.
  3. Operational Rental Credit- Small and marginal farmers receive ₹2,000 per hectare support to offset specialized mechanized/drone service rental fees accessed through CHCs, FPOs, or SHGs.

C. Center-State Funding Splits

  1. General Category States- Structured on a 60-40 funding split.
  2. North-Eastern (NER) & Himalayan States- Operated on an enhanced 90-10 ratio. Furthermore, NER receives specialized interventions including up to 100% subsidy for small machinery and 95% support for setting up local FMBs.
  3. Union Territories (UTs)- Supported via 100% Central funding.

Innovation In Action- Scaling Precision Drone Farming-

  • SMAM heavily finances the integration of drone technology via the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), State Agricultural Universities, and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) to institutionalize precision application of nutrients and crop protection chemicals-

01. Demonstration Scale - Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, 40,928 Kisan Drone demonstrations were executed across 40,918 hectares of land with a fiscal outlay of ₹52.50 crore.

02. Institutional Drone Subsidies-

  1. 100% Grants- Up to ₹10 lakh per drone provided to baseline institutions (ICAR institutes, KVKs, and State Agricultural Universities) for execution of large-scale field trials.
  2. 75% Grants- Extended to Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) for direct procurement.

03. Hiring and Rental Drone Subsidies-

  1. 50% Assistance (Up to ₹5 lakh)- For Agriculture Graduates establishing custom rental centers.
  2. 50% Assistance (Up to ₹5 lakh)- For individual small, marginal, SC/ST, women, and North-Eastern farmers.
  3. 40% Assistance (Up to ₹4 lakh)- For CHCs, general FPOs, cooperatives, rural entrepreneurs, and other individual farmers.
  4. Service Model Contingency- Agencies executing drone operations via specialized service frameworks receive a contingency cushion of ₹6,000 per hectare.

Inclusivity Mandates & Accumulative Impact Metrics-

  1. Gender Earmarking - To advance women's agency in mechanized farming systems and eliminate operational disparities, SMAM explicitly earmarks 30% of its total budgetary funds exclusively for women farmers.
  2. Growth Profile - Individual ownership beneficiaries rose from 2.07 lakh in 2020-21 to 2.32 lakh in 2024-25.