Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday, 1 June 2026 called for greater adoption of modern technology and farm machinery in Indian agriculture, specifically urging soybean farmers to follow scientific methods for sowing, disease prevention, and managing the risk of below-normal rainfall ahead of the kharif 2026 season.

Posting under the hashtag #KhetBachaoAbhiyan, the minister wrote in Hindi: 'Ab kheti mein aadhunik takneek aur mashinon ka upyog badhana hoga' — 'Modern technology and machines must now be used more widely in farming.' He added that scientific methods must be adopted keeping in mind correct soybean sowing, disease protection, and the possibility of low rainfall.

Context

Soybean is a critical kharif oilseed crop, and Madhya Pradesh — where Chouhan served four terms as Chief Minister — is India's single largest soybean-producing state. The crop is highly sensitive to dry spells during the sowing and pod-filling stages and is vulnerable to pest outbreaks, including the girdle beetle, making pre-season advisories especially significant.

Chouhan's post arrives as farmers in central India prepare for the June–July sowing window. Messaging of this kind from the Union Agriculture Ministry typically precedes formal state-level advisories on seed varieties, sowing geometry, and input subsidies.

Policy Backdrop

The call for mechanisation aligns with the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), a central scheme launched in 2014 that subsidises farm machinery and supports Custom Hiring Centres, making equipment such as seed drills and ridge-furrow planters accessible to small and marginal farmers who cannot afford individual ownership.

Broader policy support for scientific oilseed cultivation stretches back further: the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (2010) promoted climate-resilient practices and water-use efficiency for crops like soybean, while the National Food Security Mission expanded soybean development components from 2007 onward to raise productivity across central India.

Central government messaging has consistently stressed technology adoption and mechanisation to address stagnating oilseed yields in rainfed regions, where dependence on monsoon patterns makes scientific agronomy a first line of defence against crop loss.

Stakeholders and Impact

Small and marginal farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and adjoining soybean-belt states stand to be most directly affected by the minister's advisory. Soybean acreage across these states has grown in recent years, but productivity gains have been uneven, partly due to erratic rainfall and inadequate mechanisation at the farm level.

The #KhetBachaoAbhiyan hashtag signals an organised campaign around agricultural improvement and farmer outreach, amplifying the ministry's reach through social media ahead of a season when timely guidance can materially influence sowing decisions and input choices.

What's Next

State agriculture departments are expected to issue detailed advisories and subsidy schedules for kharif 2026 inputs, including certified soybean seed, bio-pesticides, and mechanised planters, in the coming weeks. Parliament may also see questions on soybean Minimum Support Price (MSP) and import policy as the season approaches.

If the ministry follows through with on-ground outreach under #KhetBachaoAbhiyan, it could translate Chouhan's social-media push into district-level demonstrations of precision sowing equipment and integrated pest management — a test of how effectively the Centre's technology-adoption agenda reaches rainfed farming households before seeds go into the ground.