The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand on Friday, 26 June 2026, shared remarks by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami calling healthy farmers, healthy soil and a healthy agricultural system the foundational pillars of a developed Uttarakhand and a developed India.

Context

CM Dhami said, 'स्वस्थ किसान, स्वस्थ मिट्टी तथा स्वस्थ कृषि व्यवस्था' ('a healthy farmer, healthy soil and a healthy agricultural system') is the strong foundation of Viksit Bharat and Viksit Uttarakhand. He described the Khet Bachao Abhiyan — translated as the 'Save the Fields Campaign' — not merely as a government programme, but as a jan andolan (people's movement) for the secure future of coming generations. The remarks signal an intent to build broad public ownership around farmland protection beyond routine administrative delivery.

Policy Backdrop

Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state, has long grappled with farmland loss driven by soil degradation and sustained rural out-migration. The state enacted an Organic Agriculture Act and launched certification drives around 2015–2017 to position itself as an organic farming hub, while the nationally launched Soil Health Card scheme of 2015 provided a policy umbrella for balanced fertiliser use and soil testing across the state. The Khet Bachao Abhiyan builds on this lineage, framing conservation not as a bureaucratic exercise but as a participatory, intergenerational commitment.

The campaign aligns with the Viksit Bharat 2047 national vision, which identifies agriculture and soil health as foundational to India's long-term development goals. By anchoring a state-level campaign to a national aspirational framework, the Uttarakhand government is positioning its agricultural agenda within the broader federal policy conversation.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the Khet Bachao Abhiyan are Uttarakhand's farming communities, particularly smallholder and hill farmers who face disproportionate exposure to soil erosion and land fragmentation. Rural communities dependent on subsistence and semi-commercial agriculture stand to gain from any sustained land and soil protection effort. The framing of the campaign as a jan andolan suggests the government is seeking farmer enrolment and community participation beyond top-down implementation.

Broader stakeholders include the state's rural youth, who have historically migrated away from farming due to poor agricultural viability. Restoring soil health and farmland productivity could reduce economic pressure on hill communities and slow the pace of agrarian out-migration that has left large tracts of cultivable land fallow across the state.

What's Next

Observers will watch for concrete rollout metrics from the Khet Bachao Abhiyan, including land area brought under protection, farmer enrolment numbers, and any announced linkages with central schemes such as PM-KISAN or revised state agriculture budget allocations for 2026–27. The government's ability to translate the movement's aspirational framing into measurable outcomes will determine whether the campaign achieves lasting impact on Uttarakhand's agrarian landscape. A public-movement model, if sustained with institutional support, could serve as a template for other hill states confronting similar farmland challenges.