Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav announced on Wednesday, 1 July 2026 that the state's price deficiency payment scheme, Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, will now be extended to paddy farmers — adding a second major kharif crop to the programme that previously covered only soybean.

Posting on X, Dr. Yadav stated: 'Soyabean ke baad ab dhan par bhi kisanon ko Bhavantar Yojana ka labh milega' ('After soybean, farmers will now also receive the benefit of the Bhavantar Yojana for paddy'). The announcement signals a deliberate widening of the state's farm income support architecture.

Context

The Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana is a direct benefit transfer mechanism under which the Madhya Pradesh government compensates farmers when market prices fall below a government-notified threshold. The scheme was first launched in 2017 under then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan specifically for soybean growers, who faced recurring price crashes in the state's dominant kharif crop.

The scheme works by calculating the difference — bhavantar, meaning 'price gap' — between the modal market price and the support price, then crediting that amount directly into registered farmers' bank accounts. It was conceived as an alternative to physical procurement, which the state's storage and logistics infrastructure could not always sustain at scale.

Policy Backdrop

Madhya Pradesh is among India's largest producers of both soybean and paddy, with millions of smallholder cultivators dependent on kharif season revenues. Price volatility in paddy markets has long been a source of rural distress, particularly in districts where irrigation access is limited and farmers cannot hold stock to wait for better prices.

By bringing paddy under the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana, the Dr. Mohan Yadav government is extending a model that Madhya Pradesh has refined over nearly a decade. Similar price deficiency payment frameworks have been piloted in other states with large kharif acreage, but Madhya Pradesh remains one of the few to have institutionalised such a scheme with direct bank transfers at scale.

Stakeholders and Impact

The immediate beneficiaries are paddy farmers across Madhya Pradesh, who will now have a formal safety net if market arrivals drive prices below the notified floor. Soybean farmers, who have been covered since 2017, are already familiar with the registration and payout process, which may ease onboarding for paddy growers.

Agricultural economists and farmer bodies in the state have previously noted that the scheme's effectiveness depends critically on the notified threshold price, the registration window, and the speed of disbursal. These operational details — including per-quintal compensation rates and the total budget allocation for the paddy component — are yet to be officially notified.

What's Next

The government is expected to release a formal order specifying the support price threshold for paddy, the registration period for eligible farmers, and the total outlay earmarked under the expanded scheme. Farmer organisations and district administrations across paddy-growing belts will be watching for the notification, which will determine how many cultivators can enrol before the kharif harvest season.

The expansion also sets a precedent: if the paddy component demonstrates successful disbursal, pressure may build on the state to bring additional crops — such as maize or pulses — under the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana umbrella in subsequent seasons.